SALT RIVER TOWNSHIP.

Salt River is the northeastern township of Randolph County. About
one-fifth of the surface is prairie, the balance is timber land. The prairie
is generally level or gently undulating. The timber land is more uneven,
and in the vicinity of the streams is somewhat broken and hilly.
The territory is well provided with streams and stock water is abund-
ant throughout the year. Mover, Mud, Flat, McKinney, Lick, and Painter
creeks, with other less important streams, take their courses through the
township and every farm is convenient to some stream that contains water
the year round. Nevertheless, for greater convenience, ponds, wells and
cisterns are dug on the farms for the use of stock. Living water is found
at short distances below the surface, giving a permanent and inexhaustible
supply.
Among the early settlers of the township were H. G. Robuck, M.
-McKinney and Strother Ridgeway. The farms in this township are gen-
erally small, averaging in size from 100 to 200 acres, and very few ex-
ceed the latter amount. It is essentially a farming and grazing country.
The quality of the soil is rich and,productive and easily cultivated.
The reliable staple crops are corn, wheat, oats, timothy and blue
grass. The latter is used almost entirely for grazing and is rarely mowed
for hay.
Coal lies a short distance below the surface in many parts of the
town ship.
The improvements on the farms are generally good. farmers have
neat and comfortable farm houses to take the place of less sightly edifices
built in the earlier history of the township.

UNION TOWNSHIP.

Union is the middle township on the eastern border of randolph
joining Monroe County on its eastern boundary. It has an area of about
29 square miles. Flat creek, Coy branch, Elk Fork, Sugar creek, Mud
creek and Coon creek, branches of Salt river penetrate its territory in
every direction and fertilize its fields and farms, There is on district in
the county, of the same dimensions that is better watered.
The first settlers of the township were George Burckhartt, father of
Judge G. H. Burckhartt, Clemen Jeeter, Dr. Burton, George Chapman, Nade
Chapman and William Haly, These men left the impress of their toil and
industry on the country they ssttled and improved.
The lands of this township are unusually fertile and will compare
favorably with the best lands in any part of the state. The territory is
about equally divided into prairie and timber lands. Each division is
equally well adapted to cultivation and pasturage. The crops of every kind
are heavy and the live stock raised is of superior quality.
Coal is found in large beds and of very excellent quality in various
parts of the district. Limestone, brick and potters clay are also found.
The yield of crops is as follows Corn per acre, average, -10 bushels.
extra, 70 bushels; wheat, average, 15 bushels, extra, 25 bushels; oats 25
to 85 bushels per acre; hay, average, one ton, extra, two tons.
Rev, J. A. Holloway, Mrs. Wesley Boatman and David Myers were
early settlers. George Burckhartt was the first settler.
Milton, the only village in the township, is about 75 years old. Its
trade has been of a purely local character, there being no facilities for
shipping. It is, however, eligibly and pleasantly situated on Elk Fort.
Until about 1878, four ministers made their homes in Milton, to-wit: Eld.
A.Holloway, of the Christian church, Rev. Peter Parker and Rev. W. D.
Hutton, of the M. E. Church South, and Rev, W. L. T. Evans of the Mis-
sionary Baptist Church. The latter, a most estimable and much beloved
an, died about 1879. Dr. R. R. Hall was the first physician.

SILVER CREEK TOWNSHIP.

Silver Creek is one of the four townships into which Randolph Countv
was originally divided. It was made the smallest in extent if territory,
because it embraced the most thickly settled portion of the county at the
time of its organization. This fact, taken in connection with its location
along the border of Howard County, which was settled first, leads us to
infer that it is the oldest settlement in the county. Although originally
the smallest in area, it gave up 18 square miles of its territory to the
township of Moniteau when the latter was organized. It is situated in the
southwest corner of the county.
While it has no railroad running directly through it, its people, taken
s a whole, are as well accommodated with railroad facilities as those of
ny other township, except Sugar Creek.
Within a mile and a half of its northern boundary are the stations of
the Wabash Railroad at Huntsville and Clifton Hill. Not far from its
eastern boundary the Chicago and Alton Railroad crosses the Missouri,
kansas and Texas, at Higbee, and on the south, at Armstrong, in Howard
county is another depot of the Chicago and Alton Railroad. The town-
ship is literally surrounded by railroad stations without any railroad run-
ning through it, a circumstance which gives to all its people a great uni-
rmity of railroad advantages.
While Silver Creek contains less level land than the other townships,
it may he safely asserted that the most fertile tracts in
the whole county -
lie within its borders. The surface ranges from the gently undulating to
hilly near the margins of the streams, and with the exception of a few
white oak ridges and hickory fiats in the northeast, and an occasional one
in other parts, the soil of the entire township is of a black, rich, sandy loam,
interspersed with limestone, which does not predominate in any locality so
as to interfere seriously with cultivation, but is generally distributed so
as to furnish the requisite supply of this material element of natural
fertility
Here, also, is to be found one of the best watered sections in the
whole country. The Sweet Spring, taking its name from a noted foun-
tain on its southern margin, washes the northern boundary of the town-
ship, and Silver creek with its tributaries flows from east to west through
the central and southern portions. The names given to these streams,
from the latter of which the township takes its name. are significant of
the purity and palatable qualities of their waters and of the perennial
fountains which dot their margins and spring spontaneous from the fertile
hillsides in many other parts of the township.
About one?third of the township is prairie land. lying mostly south
of Silver creek and along the Howard county line. Of the magnificent
forests that originally covered the remaining two?thirds of the township,
all has given way to cultivated fields.
Mt Airy is located on the public road leading from huntsville to
Roanoke. about seven miles from the former place and twelve miles from
moberly There is plenty of coal in this township.
Among the early settlers were John Viley, who was judge of the county
court Nicholas Dysart, george W. dameron once sheriff; woodson Newby,
James Goodman, Morgan Finnell, William Burton, William Thompson,
William R. burch George Ellis, Newton Bradley. Jeff. Fullington, Samuel
Cockrell, John Minor, Paschall Troyman, Leven i Dawkins, John E. Walden,
William Nichols, Roderick O´Brien, William Holman, Joseph Holman Sr.,
John Sears, Sr., Hardy Sears, Iverson Sears, Allen Mayo, William Mayo.
Valentine Mayo, John Rowland, Younger Rowland, D. R. Denny, Samuel
C.Davis, Isaiah Humphrey, William Fort, Asa Kirby, John Head, Ambrose
Medley, Basil McDavirt. Sr.. Roger West, James Davis, Rev. Samuel C.
Davis, Thomas Bradley. Tolman C. b Gorham. Tolman Gorman, Jr.. Thomas
Gorham, Ambcose Halliburton. William Morrow and Joseph Morrow.
Mr, William Mathis better known as´ Uncle Billy Mathis emigrated
from North Carolina in the year 1827 and eiected his cabin, in primitive
pioneer style. on 80 acres of land entered at government price, within five
miles of where mt Airy now stands, He was married when he came to
the state, but never had any children, He was there before the county was
organized, and William Holman Abraham Gross and James Dysart were
here when he came, the first of whom was engaged in running a horse
mill.
Jerry Jackson came with ?Uncle Billy Mathis from North Carolina,
and settled in the same neighborhood, but emigrated to Texas.
About the year 1837. Capt. William Upton, another old settler, opened
a store at his place in connection with D. C. Garth, who lived at Hunts-
ville, and had another store there. A blacksmith shop and a tobacco
factory were soon after erected, and the place was first called Uptonsville.
The enterprising people of the vicinity, however, were not long in obtain-
ing a postoffice, which was christened Mt Airy, a name which it has ever
since borne. captain upton several years before the late war, sold out
his farm and store and moved south of the Missouri river.
Judge James head one of Silver Creek´s pioneers, a resident when
the county was organized, and one of the judges of the first county court,
founded Roanoke on the Howard county line in 1836. The place at first
went by several names, as suited the fancy of the settlers, such as Head´s
Store, and van Buren, the favorite and successful Democratic candidate
for the presidency for that year. But when the postoffice was established
thcre, at the suggestion of Judge Head, it was named for the residence
of a favorite statesman of his native state?the celebrated John Randolph,
of Roanoke. Judge head emigrated to Randolph County, from Orange
County, Virginia, several years before the county was organized. He was
accompanied by his sister, Mrs. Fannie Medley and her husband, Jacob
medley who settled near him, and was the first collector of Randolph
County. Judge Head lived on nis farm adjoining Roanoke, and carried
on business in the town, uinil 1849, when he moved to lockhart, Texas,
where he died in 1875, at the age of 82 years. He was followed to this
state in 1831 by his father and mother, and all his remaining brothers and
sisters, except Mrs. Minor Rucker, who came with her husband and family
in 1837. They all settled in Randolph County. His father, John Head,
and his brother, John Head, Jr.. settled in Silver Creek, two miles north of
Roanoke, the former on the farm where he resided until his death in
1852. all the others settled in and around Huntsville, These were Dr.
Walker Head, who was twice elected to the legislature from this county,
and at the time of his death in 1845, he had just been elected a delegate
to the state convention, to revise the constitution. Mrs. Emily Chiles,
Mrs. Sarah D. Allen, Mrs Amanda Garth, and Mrs. Harriet Rucker were
other members of the family. mrs martha price the youngest daughter,
was single when she came to the state and was married to general Sterling
Price, at her father´s residence in Silver Creek township, in the year 1833.
Robert Smith, who operated a tobacco factory, half a mile east of
Mt. Airy, was an old settler He came to Huntsville in 1837, where he
remained six years, and then moved to Silver Creek.
John Osborn emigrated from Orange County, Virginia, in 1835. he
purchased dry goods and other family supplies at Old Chariton. in Chariton
County. Allen Mayo, Daniel McDavitt and William Ferguson were Mr.
Osborns earliest neighbors, having preceded him in the settlement.
Rev, William H. Mansfield resided one mile northeast of roanoake on
a farm of 200 acres which he settled in 1831, and was one of the oldest
men in Silver Creek township at the time of his death, He was born in
Orange County, Virginia, and resided in this county fifty years he was
married in 1814. in Virginia, to miss salina Eddings. and they had thir-
teen children. Mr. Mansfield was a veteran of the War of 1812, and drew
the usual pension. he took a just pride in having participated in the
stirring events of that great national drama, in which his valor and
patriotism contributed to win imperishable honor for Americans and vin
dicated our national motto, Free Trade and Sailors´ Rights.? He never
departed from the political faith which inspired his early manhood, and
in his old age he adhered with unwavering fidelity to the principles which
in his youth he drew his sword to defend, He was a devoted Christian,
and a member of the Missionary Baptist church for nearly three-quarters
of a century. He was ordained a minister of the gospel in 1832. and for
more than forty years valiantly carried the banner of the Cross, until
increasing age and corpulency compelled him to abandon the active duties
of the ministry when, under a conscious conviction of having finished
his appointed work, he retired to the shades of a more private life. Being
seldom away from home he was very often called upon to perform the mar-
riage ceremony, and was noted for his clemency towards runaway couples,
whom he never declined to unite, unless prevented by a legal barrier. He
was remarkable for his sociability and hospitality, and always gave his
friends a dinner on Christmas Day, and on New Year´s 1878, he celebrated
his golden wedding.
Mrs. Salina Mansfield. his wife, was the oldest woman in the township
at the time of her death. She was much beloved on account of her social
and Christian virtues, and, like her husband, was a zealous Christian and
member of the Baptist church.

SUGAR CREEK TOWNSHIP.

This is one of the original municipal townships, and was organized in
1829. Its general shape is that of an L, a strip six miles long and two
miles wide forming the lower extension of the letter, while a strip four
miles wide and six and a half miles long composes the upper extension.
The township contains about thirty-six square miles. It has been much
reduced from its original limits, other townships having been formed from
it. The narrow strip of the township reaches to the eastern border of
the county, while the greater body of land lies six miles west of that boun-
dary.
The divide´ runs through its territory in a north direction, in the
eastern central portion of the township. The eastern part, therefore, con-
tributes its waters to the Mississippi river, while the streams of the western
part are tributary to the Missouri.
Among the earliest settlers having made their homes in the county
before it was originated were Reuben Cornelius, Benjamin Hardin, Mal-
com Galbreath and T. N. Galbreath. The latter lived in Prairie township.
In 1822, when he first settled there, and even at a much later period, elk,
deer, bear, wild turkeys and grouse were abundant for game, while wolves,
foxes, wild cats and panthers were numerous, Col, P. P. Ruby, T. P.
White, John Hannah, Alexander Jones, John Grimes, Elijah Williams,
Patrick Lynch, W. H. Baird and Eli Owens were among the early settlers.
Wild honey proved a profitable crop. and could be found with little
labor. In 1828, or 1824, Mr. Whittenburg built a mill in the southeastern
part of the county, and Mr. Goggin one within the present corporate limits
of Huntsville, These were draught or horse mills, grinding corn alone.
Previous to that meal was ground on hand mills or grated on graters pre-
pared for the purpose. Little wheat flour was used, and what was con-
sumed was brought from Old Franklin, more than forty miles distant.
The land is diversified with prairie and timber; comparatively little of
it is so broken as to he unfit for cultivation, and all of it is adapted to
razing.
In the early settlement of the county the native grasses held possession
Df the soil, and blue grass was unknown. When the lands were enclosed,
and the trampling and grazing of stock had killed the native grass, blue
rass began to make its appearance; showing that it is an indigenous
rowth in this soil, and neither cultivation nor grazing will destroy it.
The township settled up slowly, owing, in great part, to its remote-
ess even from local markets and the want of adequate transportation to
)reign marts. The farmers fed their grain and grass to live stock, and
epended upon the ?drovers? to purchase their cattle, horses and hogs.
fter the construction of the North Missouri Railroad, settlements became
more common, and after the close of the Civil War they advanced rapidly.
The creeks in this township are numerous, but as the land lies along
the dividing ridge of eastern and western waters, these streams are small.
The variety of agricultural products is not surpassed by any other
country in the world. While there are other lands that may produce one,
two or even three crops in larger proportion, there are non that will yield
so generous a harvest of such a great variety of productions.

JACKSON TOWNSHIP.

JACKSON TOWNSHIP IS THE MIDDLE TOWNSHIP ON THE NORTHERN BORDER OF
THE COUNTY. IT IS SOMEWHAT IRREGULAR IN SHAPE, AND IS LESS IN SIZE THAN A
CONGRESSIONAL TOWNSHIP, HAVING AN AREA´ OF 17,400 ACRES, OR 27½ SQUARE
MILES. IT IS WATERED ON THE WEST BY THE EAST FORK OF THE CHARITON AND
WALNUT CREEK, AND ON THE EAST BY HOOVER AND MUD CREEKS. ALMOST EVERY
ACRE OF THE SOIL IS SUSCEPTIBLE OF CULTIVATION. PRAIRIE AND TIMBER LAND ARE
ABOUT EQUAL. ITS VALUABLE MINERALS CONSIST OF COAL, LIMESTONE AND FIRE CLAY.
THE FARMS GENERALLY ARE IN GOOD CONDITION. THE PRAIRIE IS UNDULATING,
AND IN ITS WILD STATE, PRODUCE A STRONG, HEALTHY AND VIGOROUS GROWTH OF
NATIVE GRASSES, IN A STATE OF CULTIVATION IT YIELDS GENEROUSLY TO THE RARE
AND CULTURE OF THE HUSBANDSMAN ALL THE GRAINS, GRASSES, ROOTS AND FRUITS
USUALLY CULTIVATED IN THIS LATITUDE.
THE EARLY SETTLERS IN JACKSON TOWNSHIP SETTLED GENERALLY ALONG THE
COURSE OF THE STREAMS, AND IN THE TIMBER; IN FACT THE PIONEERS THROUGHOUT
THIS WESTERN COUNTRY ALL SOUGHT THE TIMBER AND WATER. THE PRAIRIES WERE
NOT SETTLED UNTIL MANY YEARS HAD PASSED. MANY OF THE PIONEERS WERE POOR,
AND DID NOT HAVE TEAMS SUFFICIENT TO BREAK THE PRAIRIE, AS IT REQUIRED FROM
THREE TO FOUR GOOD YOKE OF OXEN TO DRAW THE PLOW, AND COMING AS THEY DID
FROM KENTUCKY AND OTHER STATES, WHICH WERE ORIGINALLY COVERED WITH DENSE
FORESTS THEY NATURALLY LOCATED CONVENIENTLY NEAR TO OR IN THE TIMBER. THE
OLD SETTLERS NOW SAY, THE PRAIRIE LAND HAS UNDERGONE A GREAT CHANGE SINCE
THEY FIRST CAME TO THE COUNTY; IT THEN APPEARED TO BE OF A COLD, WET, AND
CLAMMY NATURE, AND DID NOT POSSESS THE SAME PRODUCTIVE QUALITY THAT IT NOW
HAS. AS THE COUNTRY BECAME OPENED AND SETTLED, AND THE PRAIRIE WERE
GRAZED AND TRODDEN BY STOCK, THEIR PRODUCTIVE QUALITIES WERE GREATLY IM-
PROVED UNTIL THEY ARE NOW CONSIDERED THE BETTER FARMING LANDS.
JACKSON TOWNSHIP IS NOT SO WELL WATERED NATURALLY AS SOME OTHER TOWN-
SHIPS. THE STREAMS GENERALLY VEIN THE WESTERN AND SOUTHEASTERN PORTION
OF IT. WALNUT CREEK, THE EAST FORK OF THE CHARITON EIVER, HOOVER AND
MUD CREEKS, AND THEIR TRIBUTARIES, ALL TAKE THEIR RISE IN THIS TOWNSHIP, AND
ALL FLOW SOUTHWEST AND SOUTHEAST EXCEPTING HOOVER CREEK, WHICH FLOWS
NORTHEAST.
THE EARLY SETTLERS INCLUDED SOME OF THE FOLLOWING NAMES: HENRY
OWENS, FROM KENTUCKY; ISAAC REYNOLDS, FROM KENTUCKY; JOHN COULTER,
FROM KENTUCKY; ROBERT STEVENS, FROM KENTUCKY; WILLIAM MCCANNE, FROM
KENTUCKY; H. J. MCCANNE, FROM KENTUCKY; THOMAS MCCANNE, FROM KEN-
TUCKY; NATHANIEL SIMS, FROM KENTUCKY; BENJ POLSON, FROM KENTUCKY;
JAMES W. LAMB, FROM KENTUCKY; MILTON DURHAM, FROM KENTUCKY; STOKELY
W. TOWLES, FROM KENTUCKY; LEONARD HILL, FROM VIRGINIA; JOHN HORE, FROM
VIRGINIA; GEORGE W. HORE FROM VIRGINIA; DAVID MCCANNE, FROM NORTH
CAROLINA; L. C. DAVIS, FROM NORTH CAROLINA; JONATHAN HUNT, FROM VIR-
GINIA; JOHN ANCELL FROM VIRGINIA; FRANK ANCELL, FROM VIRGINIA; C. F.
BURCKHARTT, FROM VIRGINIA; FRANK SIMS, FROM TENNESSEE; WILLIAM BAILEY,
FROM TENNESSEE; JOHN H. PENNY, FROM VIRGINIA.
AMONG THE OLDEST SETTLERS WERS HENRY OWENS AND JAMES W. LAMB.
MR. LAMB CAME IN NOVEMBER, 1837, FROM CASEY COUNTY, KENTUCKY, AND
FOLLOWED FARMING AND LATER KEPT A HOTEL IN THE TOWN OF JACKSONVILLE, IN
1837 THERE WERE NO SETTLEMENTS ON THE PRAIRIE. A ROAD RAN NORTH AND SOUTH
THROUGH THE TOWNSHIP, CALLED THE ?BEE TRACE,? SO CALLED FROM THE FACT THAT
IT WAS THE ROUTE TRAVELED BY THE OLD PIONEERS WHO HUNTED WILD HONEY, WHICH
WAS WORTH AT THAT TIME TWENTY CENTS S GALLON.
MR. LAMB OCCUPIED HIS TIME AFTER HIS ARRIVAL IN THE TOWNSHIP, CUT-
TING TIMBER AND SPLITTING RAILS AT THIRTY-SEVEN AND A HALF CENTS A HUNDRED,
AND SAWING PLANKS WITH A RIP SAW AT $1.50 PER HUNDRED FEET. TOBACCO WAS
RAISED AT AN EARLY DATE, AND TAKEN TO GLASGOW, WHERE IT WAS SOLD TO THE
MERCHANTS AND SHIPPED TO ST. LOUIS AND ELSEWHERE, FOR $1.50 PER HUNDRED
POUNDS. BACON WAS WORTH $2.25 PER HUNDRED.
AFTER REMAINING HERE A FEW YEARS MR. LAMB WENT BACK TO KENTUCKY
AND WHILE THERE, MARRIED. AFTER HIS MARRIAGE HE DETERMINED TO RETURN
TO RANDOLPH COUNTY, AND IN 1842 HE STARTED UPON HIS JOURNEY OF NEARLY
600 MILES, WITH OULY $10 IN MONEY, HIS WIFE, A HORSE AND BUGGY, AND NEARLY
TRAVELING 28 DAYS, HE ARRIVED AT HIS NEW HOME, HAVING SPENT ALL HIS MONEY,
EXCEPTING SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS. DEER WERE SO NUMEROUS FROM 1885 TO 1840
THAT OFTENTIMES 30 AND 40 COULD BE SEEN AT ONE TIME.
HUMPHREY AND BROCK ERECTED THE FIRST SAW MILL IN THE TOWNSHIP, WHICH
WAS SOON DESTROYED BY FIRE, AND IMMEDIATELY REBUILT, WHEN IT WAS SOLD TO
GEORGE W. JONES, WHO COMBINED IT WITH A GRIST MILL. JONES SOLD TO BENJA-
MM SIMS. THE MILL WAS LOCATED ABOUT HALF A MILE NORTH OF JACKSONVILLE,
AT A SPRING, WHICH FURNISHED WATER DURING THE DRY SEASONS FOR MANY OF
THE CITIZENS OF THE TOWN.
THE FIRST CHURCH THAT WAS BUILT IN THE TOWNSHIP WAS ALSO LOCATED AT
THIS SPRING BY THE CHRISTIAN DENOMINATION IN 1852, AND WAS A UNION CHURCH.
THE TOWN OF JACKSONVILLE IS LOCATED ON THE WABASH RAILWAY 19 MILES
NORTHWEST OF HUNTSVILLE, AND 12 MILES NORTH OF MOBERLY.
THE TOWN SITE WAS OWNED BY WILLIAM MCCANNE, JR., JOHN W. MCCANNE,
SR., AND HENRY OWEN, WHO DONATED 50 ACRES TO THE RAILROAD COMPANY. PRO-
VIDED THEY WOULD LOCATE A DEPOT UPON IT, THIS WAS ABOUT THE YEAR 1858.
THE TOWN WAS NAMED AFTER HANCOCK JACKSON, WHO WAS AN EARLY SETTLER IN
THE COUNTY, AND WHO FILLED BESIDES SEVERAL COUNTY OFFICES, THE POSITION OF
LIEUT.-GOVERNOR OF MISSOURI, THE FIRST BUSINESS HOUSE WAS ERECTED BY
J J. HUMPHREY AND WAS OCCUPIED BY HIM AS A GENERAL STORE.
SAMUEL RIDGEWAY OPENED THE FIRST HOTEL, AND CONTINUED TO OCCUPY
IT UNTIL HIS DEATH, WHICH OCCURRED IN 1880. DR. BURCKHARTT WAS THE FIRST
PHYSICIAN. THOMAS DEMSTER WAS THE PIONEER SHOEMAKER, THE FIRST
CHURCH WAS ERECTED IN 1867 BY THE CHRISTIANS. THOMAS GRIFFEY AND ROBERT
SKINNER WERE THE FIRST BLACKSMITHS.
MASONIC LODGE, NO. 44 WAS ORGANIZED IN JACKSONVILLE IN JUNE, 1866,
WITH THE FOLLOWING CHARTER MEMBERS: JAMES A. BERRY, JAMES A. HOLT,
JAMES M. HANNAH, J. H. PETY, DAVID HALLIBURTON.

PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP.
PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP LIES IN THE SOUTHEASTERN CORNER OF RANDOLPH COUNTY.
IT IS THE LARGEST TOWNSHIP IN THE COUNTY, AND HAS AN AREA OF ABOUT 88 SQUARE
MILES. THE AMOUNT OF PRAIRIE AND TIMBER LAND IS ABOUT THE SAME. AS
THE TOWNSHIP IS BOUNDED ON TWO SIDES BY MONROE, AUDRAIN, BOONE AND
HOWARD COUNTIES, PRAIRIE IS IN THE FRONT RANK OF TOWNSHIPS, AND IS SETTLED
BY A PROGRESSIVE AND PROSPEROUS PEOPLE. THE SOIL IS A BLACK LOAM WITH
SUBSTRATUM OF CLAY. THE LAND BUS AN UNDULATING SURFACE, DRAINS ITSELF
READILY IN SEASONS OF PROTRACTED RAINFALL, AND RETAINS SUFFICIENT MOISTURE
FOR THE SUSTENATION OF VEGETATION IN PERIODS OF PROTRACTED DROUTH.
IT IS WATERED BY THE TRIBUTARIES OF SALT RIVER ON THE NORTH AND EAST
SIDES OF THE ?DIVIDE? AND BY PERCHE AND THE TRIBUTARIES OF MONITEAU RIVER
ON THE SOUTHWEST. THESE STREAMS TAKE THEIR RISE WITHIN ITS TERRITORY, BUT
BEFORE THEY LEAVE IT, FORM LARGE, DEEP CREEKS THAT CONTAIN WATER DURING THE
ENTIRE YEAR, HOWEVER DRY THE SEASON. THE SMALLER STREAMS BEING NUMER-
OUS, SUPPLY STOCK WATER FOR EVERY PART OF THE DISTRICT. COAL IS ABUNDANT
TBROUGHOUT THE DISTRICT AND SEVERAL MINES ARE WORKED.
IT IS OFTEN THE CASE IN THE EAST THAT COAL LANDS ARE UNFIT FOR ANYTHING
BUT COAL, BUT SUCH IS NOT THE CASE IN MISSOURI. LAND OVERLYING COAL BEDS
IS FREQUENTLY AS RICH AND PRODUCTIVE AS ANY OTHER LAND IN THE COUNTRY, AND
THIS IS PECULIARLY THE CASE IN PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP.
AMONG THE OLD SETTLERS OF THIS TOWNSHIP WERE JOHN HAMILTON, JAMES
MARTIN, R. P. MARTIN, MRS. CHISHAM, WILLIAM BUTLER, JOEL HUBBARD, RICE
ALEXANDER, HUGH C. COLLINS, DR. PRESLEY T. OLIVER, JACKSON DICKERSON,
JOSEPH DAVIS, MOSES KIMBROUGH, AARON KIMBROUGH, THOMAS KIMBROUGH,
A. HENDRIX, BENJAMIN HARDIN, ASA R. HUBBARD, PRESLY SHIRLEY, JEREMIAH
BUNNEL THOMAS STOCKTON W. S. CHRISTIAN, GRANDERSON BROOKS, ARCHIBALD
GOIN, MAY BURTON, JOHN SORRELL, HENRY BURNHAM, WILLIAM CROSWHITE, JOHN
KIMBROUGH BLUFORD ROBINSON, WILEY MARSHALL, A. W. LANE, DURETT BRUCE,
REUBEN SAMUEL AND JOSEPH WILCOX.
NEARLY ALL OF THE ABOVE NAMED PIONEERS WERE FROM KENTUCKY AND MANY
OF THESE MEN WERE GREAT HUNTERS, NOTABLY SO WERE DURETT BRUCE, JOE DAVIS,
CY DAVIS, URIAH DAVIS, H. C. COLLINS, JOHN SORRELL AND JAMES MARTIN. THE
LATTER IN HIS EARLY MANHOOD WAS VERY ATHLETIC AND WAS PROBABLY THE ONLY
MAN WHO EVER CAUGHT AN UNWOUNDED DEER BY RUNNING AFTER IT ON FOOT.
DURETT BRUCE, WHO CAME TO THE TOWNSHIP IN 1857 LIVED TO A GREAT AGE. HE
WAS BORN IN FAYETTE COUNTY, KENTUCKY, EIGHT MILES SOUTH OF LEXINGTON,
MARCH 1, 1789. HIS FATHER´S NAME WAS BENJAMIN BRUCE; HE WAS A NATIVE
OF SCOTLAND, AND A KINSMAN OF ROBERT BRUCE, ONE OF THE SCOTTISH CHIEFS,
WHOSE DEEDS OF BRAVERY AND FEATS OF MANHOOD HAVE BEEN IMMORTALIZED
BY THE INCOMPARABLE PEN OF JANE PORTER.
MR. BRUCE MARRIED MISS SARAH STEPHENS, DAUGHTER OF COL. STEPHENS,
APRIL 13, 1813. IN 1834, OCTOBER 10TH, HE CAME TO BOONE COUNTY, MISSOURI,
AND AFTER RAISING TWO CROPS, HE SETTLED IN RANDOLPH COUNTY. HEARING THAT
THE WOLVES WERE NUMEROUS, AND VERY DESTRUCTIVE TO SHEEP, HE BROUGHT WITH
HIM TO THE COUNTY 15 SHEEP, 18 HOUNDS, AND A CUR DOG, AND WAS NEVER
ANNOYED BY WOLVES AFTER HIS ARRIVAL, HE WAS IN THE WAR OF 1812 AND
SERVED UNDER GEN, WILLIAM H. HARRISON SIX MONTHS AND GEN MCARTHUR
FOUR MONTHS.
IN EARLY LIFE MR. BRUCE WAS APPRENTICED TO THE TRADE OF LOCKSMITH, A
PURSUIT WHICH HE FOLLOWED UNTIL HE WAS PAST 95 YEARS OLD. IN 1869 HE
LOCATED IN THE THEN NEW TOWN OF MOBERLY, WHERE HE DIED.
THE FIRST MILL IN PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP WAS OWNED BY JESSE JONES, AND WAS
LOCATED ABOUT THREE MILES SOUTHWEST OF RENICK, THE FIRST CHURCH EDIFICE
IN THE TOWNSHIP WAS CALLED DOVER CHURCH, AND WAS OCCUPIED BY DIFFERENT
DENOMINATIONS, THE FIRST SCHOOL WAS TAUGHT BY COL, JOHN M. BEAN, A KEN-
TUCKIAN, AT A PLACE CALLED OAK POINT. LYNCH TURNER WAS THE FIRST OFFICIATING
MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL.
RENICK, THE MOST IMPORTANT TOWN IN THE TOWNSHIP, WAS LOCATED IN
1856. AFTER THE NORTH MISSOURI RAILROAD, NOW THE WABASH, HAD BECOME AN
ESTABLISHED INSTITUTION. IT IS SITUATED ON A HIGH ROLLING PRAIRIE, ON THE
?GRAND DIVIDE?, THE WATERS ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE TOWN FLOWING TO THE
MISSISSIPPI AND THOSE ON THE WEST SIDE TO THE MISSOURI. THE WABASH
RAILROAD PASSES DIAGONALLY THROUGH THE TOWN, THE DEPOT BEING CONVENIENT
TO THE BUSINESS PORTION OF IT. IT LIES SIX MILES SOUTH BY EAST OF MOBERLY.
ITS CITIZENS ARE A THOROUGH-GOING AND ENTERPRISING PEOPLE. DURING THE
CIVIL WAR, NEARLY ALL THE HOUSES IN THE TOWN WERE DESTROYED.
MASONIC LODGE, NO. 186, WAS ORGANIZED OCTOBER 19, 1867, WITH THE
FOLLOWING CHARTER MEMBERS: G. A. SETTLE, A. E. GRUBB, S. A. MITCHELL,
JAMES HARDIN, BENJAMIN TERRILL, J. R. ALEXANDER, R. DAVIS, T. Y. MARTIN,
R. P, MARTIN, J. Y. COATES, S. S. ELLIOTT, WILLIAM BUTLER, G. R. CHRISTIAN.
CLAY THOMPSON, WHO CAME ?FROM KENTUCKY ABOUT THE YEAR 1856, ERECTED
THE FIRST HOUSE IN THE TOWN; HE ALSO OPENED THE FIRST BUSINESS HOUSE AND
HOTEL, WILLIAM H. MARSHALL WAS THE FIRST BLACKSMITH, PETER HOEMAN THE
FIRST SHOEMAKER. WILLIAM B. MCLEAN WAS THE FIRST PHYSICIAN IN THAT REGION
OF COUNTRY.

MONITEAU TOWNSHIP.

MONITEAU IS THE MIDDLE TOWNSHIP ON THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF RANDOLPH
COUNTY. IT CONTAINS A FRACTION OVER 37 SQUARE MILES, AND WAS CUT OFF FROM
THE TOWNSHIPS OF PRAIRIE AND SILVER CREEK AFTER THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE
MISSOURI, KANSAS AND TEXAS RAILROAD, FROM HANNIBAL TO SEDALIA. SOON
AFTER THIS EVENT A DEPOT WAS ESTABLISHED IN THE PRESENT TERRITORY OF MONI
TEAU, ON LANDS THEN BELONGING TO EDWARD OWENS, CALLED HIGBEE, AND SOON
A VILLAGE WAS LAID OUT ON LANDS BELONGING TO EDWARD OWENS AND JOSEPH
BURTON, A POST-OFFICE WAS ALSO ESTABLISHED, AND THE GROWTH OF THE FUTURE
TOWN WAS BEGUN. THIS GROWTH WAS AFTERWARD ACCELERATED BY THE LOCATION
OF THE CHICAGO AND ALTON RAILROAD THROUGH ITS BORDERS, CROSSING THE MIS-
SOURI, KANSAS AND TEXAS ROAD NEAR THE CENTER OF THE TOWN. THESE ARRANGE-
MENTS HAVING BEEN COMPLETED, A PETITION WAS NUMEROUSLY SIGNED BY CITIZENS
OF THE VICINITY, ASKING THE COUNTY COURT TO ORGANIZE ANOTHER TOWNSHIP, TO BE
CALLED MONITEAU, AS IT WOULD BE LOCATED ON THE HEAD WATERS OF MONITEAU
CREEK.
THE MONITEAU, SILVER AND BONNE FEMME CREEKS TAKE THEIR RISE IN THE
BORDERS OF THIS TOWNSHIP. ALONG THE BORDERS OF THESE STREAMS THE COUNTRY
IS BROKEN AND HILLY, COVERED WITH BLACK AND WHITE OAK TIMBER. WHERE THE
BOTTOMS AND VALLEYS ARE BROAD ENOUGH FOR CULTIVATION, THE LAND IS FOUND TO
HE VERY RICH AND PRODUCTIVE. EVEN THE LAND THAT CANNOT HE CULTIVATED IS
COVERED WITH A HEAVY GROWTH OF VALUABLE TIMBER COMPOSED OF SUGAR MAPLE,
WALNUT AND COTTONWOOD. AS THE DIVIDING RIDGES OF THESE STREAMS ARE
APPROACHED, A SIGHTLY AND FRUITFUL COUNTRY IS PRESENTED, NOW OCCUPIED BY
SUBSTANTIAL FARMERS, AND HIGHLY IMPROVED. FOR GRAZING PURPOSES IT SEEMS
IN MANY RESPECTS, BETTER THAN REGIONS ADJOINING, WHICH HAVE A RICHER AND
DEEPER SOIL. CLOVER AND TIMOTHY PRODUCE WELL WITH CULTIVATION; BUT BLUE
GRASS, THE FIRST TO COME IN THE SPRING, THE MOST NUTRITIOUS WHILE IT LASTS.
AND THE LAST TO BE AFFECTED BY THE FROSTS, IS THE SPONTANEOUS PRODUCTION OF
THIS REGION.
BITUMINOUS COAL UNDERLIES THE SURFACE AND CROPS OUT AT INTERVSLS ALONG
ALMOST ALL THE STREAMS. THE PROXIMITY OF THE RAILROADS TO THESE DEPOSITS
OF BLACK DIAMONDS,? MAKES EITHER ENTERPRISE A SAFE AND PROFITABLE INVEST-
MENT AND COAL MINING IS CARRIED ON EXTENSIVELY AT HIGBEE.
MONITEAU WAS FIRST SETTLED BY VIRGINIANS, KENTUCKIANS, TENNESSEEANS
AND NORTH CAROLINIANS, AMONG WHOSE VIRTUES WERE TEMPERANCE, INDUSTRY,
PROBITY AND HOSPITALITY, OF THESE WERE JAMES DYSART, JOHN DYSART, DR.
WILLIAM WALKER. REV. JESSE TERRILL MONTGOMERY WHITMORE, J. HIGBEE,
GEORGE YATES, NICHOLAS DYSART, CHRISTOPHER DYSART, M. M. BURTON, MAJ.
J. B. TYMONY, JOSEPH BURTON, EDWARD OWENS AND GEORGE QUINN. EDWARD
OWENS WAS THE OLDEST MAN IN THE TOWNSHIP AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH.
AMONG OTHER SETTLERS WERE JOHN TURNER, WILLIAM B. TOMPKINS, LYNCH
TURNER, JOSEPH WILCOX, JACOB MAGGARD, CHARLES MCLEAN AND THOMAS
DAWKINS.
JOHN TURNER ERECTED THE FIRST MILL THAT WAS PUT UP IN THE TOWNSHIP.
IT WAS SN OLD-FASHIONED HORSE-MILL; WAS LOCATED IN THE NORTHERN PORTION OF
THE TOWNSHIP, AND WAS RUNNING AS EARLY AS 1828.
THOMAS DAWKINS TAUGHT THE FIRST SCHOOL ABOUT THE YEAR 1830; THE
SCHOOL HOUSE, A SMALL CABIN, STOOD NEAR A SMALL STREAM?ONE OF THE FORKS
OF SILVER CREEK. DAWKINS WAS FROM KENTUCKY, AND WAS MUCH THOUGHT OF
AS A TEACHER.
THE NAME OF JAMES HIGBEE, A WORTHY CITIZEN OF MONITEAU, NOW DE-
CEASED, GAVE THE TITLE TO THE STATION WHICH HAS GROWN INTO A LIVELY, PRO-
GRESSIVE AND THRIVING TOWN. HIGBEE IS SITUATED ABOUT THREE MILES NORTH
OF HOWARD COUNTY LINE, AT THE CROSSING OF THE MISSOURI, KANSAS AND TEXAS
AND THE CHICAGO AND ALTON RAILROADS. IT POSSESSES GOOD FACILITIES FOR
SHIPPING SECOND TO NO PLACE IN NORTH MISSOURI. IT STANDS ON AN OPEN
RIDGE TWO MILES WIDE, BETWEEN THE MONITEAU AND BONNE FEMME CREEKS.
THE PRESENT CITY OFFICIALS OF HIGBEE ARE: MAYOR, LEE THOMASON;
CLERK, RICHARD L. HINES; COLLECTOR, JOSEPH W. BURTON; ASSEESOR, WALTER
DAVIS; STREET COMMISSIONER, OSCAR FOWLER; HEALTH COMMISSIONER, GEORGE
M. NICHOLS; MARSHAL, W. ISAAC WILLIAMS; FIRE CHIEF, JOHN EGLY; ALDERMEN
ROY COMPTON, JENKIN WILLIAMS, CLARENCE LELAND, JOHN LITTLE.

CAIRO TOWNSHIP.
         
CAIRO TOWNSHIP LIES IN THE SECOND TIER OF TOWNSHIPS FROM THE NORTHERN
HOUNDARY OF RANDOLPH, AND IN THE CENTRAL NORTHEAST PART OF THE COUNTY.
IT CONTAINS AN AREA OF 21,920 ACRES, OR A FRACTION OVER 34 SQUARE MILES.
THE GRAND DIVIDE RUNS IN A NORTHWESTERLY DIRECTION THROUGH IT, SEPARATING
IT INTO TWO NEARLY EQUAL PARTS. ITS TERRITORY WAS FORMERLY A PART OF SUGAR
CREEK TOWNSHIP.
THE SOIL IS A RICH BLACK LOAM, OVERLAYING A SUBSTRATUM OF STIFF CLAY
THAT, WHEN EXPOSED TO THE INFLUENCES OF RAIO AND SUNSHINE, SNOW AND FROST,
NOT ONLY BECOMES FRIABLE AND ARABIC, HOT IMPARTS A PECULIAR PRODUCTIVE
ENERGY TO THE SOIL AND IS ADMIRABLY ADAPTED TO THE CULTIVATION OF CERTAIN
CROPS. HENCE, THE MEADOWS AND GRASS FIELDS THAT HAVE BEEN DEEPLY STIRRED
ARE AMONG THE BEST IN THE STATE, AND THE TOWNSHIP IS NOTED FOR THE RICH
AND NUTRITIVE QUALITY OF ITS GRASSES. THE CEREALS, ALSO, ARE CULTIVATED WITH
SUCCESS. ABOUT TOO-THIRDS OF THE TERRITORY IS A HIGH ROLLING PRAIRIE.
THE WABASH RAILROAD FOLLOWS THE DIVIDE AND RUNS THROUGH THE TOWN-
SHIP; EVEN THE FARMERS SVHO RESIDE IN THE MOST REMOTE PARTS OF IT ARE NOT
MORE THAN SIX MILES FROM A DEPOT.
THE EAST FORK OF CHARITON RIVER AND WALNUT CREEK ON THE WEST SIDE,
AND MUD CREEK, ELK FORK AND FLAT CREEK ON THE EAST, AFFORD PLENTY AND
NEVER FAILING WATER FOR ALL THE OPERATIONS OF THE FARM
LIVE STOCK IS RAISED EXTENSIVELY AND THE AMOUNT SHIPPED TO MARKETS OF
CATTLE, SHEEP, HOGS, HORSES AND MULES, IS VERY LARGE, RETURNING A HANDSOME
INCOME TO THE FARMERS.
THE AVERAGE YIELD OF FARM PRODUCTS PER ACRE IS AS FOLLOWS: CORN, 30
BUSHELS AVERAGE, EXTRA, 60 BUSHELS; OATS, ~5 BUSHELS AVERAGE, EXTRA, 50
BUSHELS; HAY, ONE AND A HALF TONS.
AMONG THE EARLY SETTLERS IN CAIRO TOWNSHIP WERE LEONARD DODSON,
FROM KENTUCKY; ANDREW GOODDING, FROM KENTUCKY; SAMUEL MARTIN, FROM
KENTUCKY; COL ROBERT BOUCHER, FROM KENTUCKY; ISAAC BAKER, FROM KEN-
TUCKY; BENJ. HUNTSMAN, FROM KENTUCKY; DANIEL MCKINNEY, FROM KEN-
TUCKY; JAMES COCHRAN, FROM KENTUCKY; WILLIAM KING, FROM KENTUCKY;
JAMES T. BONEY, FROM NORTH CAROLINA; BENJAMIN DAMERON, FROM NORTH
CAROLINA; W. S. DAMERON, FROM NORTH CAROLINA; JUDGE JOSEPH GOODDING,
FROM KENTUCKY.
JUDGE JOSEPH GOODDING IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN THE FIRST SETTLER IN THE
TOWNSHIP. HE EMIGRATED TO HOWARD COUNTY, MO., FROM KENTUCKY, IN
1818, AND IN 1823 LOCATED IN CAIRO TOWNSHIP. HE WAS A PROMINENT CITIZEN,
AND FILLED THE OFFICE OF COUNTY JUDGE THREE OR FOUR TERMS.
W. S. DAMERON CAME TO THE TOWNSHIP IN 1841, FROM HUNTSVILLE MO~,
AND HAS LIVED IN RANDOLPH COUNTY 52 YEARS. HE WAS BORN IN NORTH
CAROLINA, OCTOBER 29, 1824.
CAIRO WAS LOCATED IN 1860 ON THE NORTH DIVISION OF THE WABASH, ST.
LOUIS AND PACIFIC RAILWAY, EIGHT MILES FROM HUNTSVILLE, AND SEVEN MILES
NORTH OF MOBERLY, AND 152 MILES NORTHWEST OF ST. LOUIS, THE TOWN SITE
ORIGINALLY COMPRISED 40 ACRES, OWNED BY W. S. DAMERON, WHO DONATED FIVE
ACRES FOR DEPOT PURPOSES. THE REMAINING 35 ACRES WERE LAID OUT IN LOTS.
THE NEW TOWN WAS AT FIRST CALLED FAIRVIEW, BUT THERE BEING ANOTHER TOWN
OF THE SAME NAME, IT WAS CHANGED TO CAIRO, AT THE SUGGESTION OF THOMAS
DAMERON.
P. G. MCDANIEL, FROM KENTUCKY, ERECTED THE FIRST STORE BUILDING IN THE
TOWN; THOMAS DAMERON, THE FIRST DWELLING HOUSE, LOCATED EAST OF THE RAIL-
ROAD. J. C. TEDFORD WAS THE PIONEER PHYSICIAN. ABNER LANDRAM WAS THE
FIRST BLACKSMITH, AND THOMAS GARTER WAS THE FIRST SHOEMAKER. B. R
BOUCHER TAUGHT THE FIRST SCHOOL THE METHODISTS (M, E. CHURCH SOUTH)
ERECTED THE FIRST CHURCH EDIFICE, THOMAS DAMERON WAS THE FIRST POSTMASTER
AND WROTE THE FIRST MAIL MATTER THAT WAS SENT FROM THE TOWN.
                                 

CLIFTON TOWNSHIP.
                            
CLIFTON IS THE MIDDLE TOWNSHIP ON THE WESTERN BORDER OF RANDOLPH
COUNTY. IT IS FIVE MILES IN WIDTH FROM EAST TO WEST, ITS GREATEST LENGTH
FROM NORTH TO SOUTH BEING SEVEN AND A HALF MILES, GIVING AN AREA OF ABOUT
32½ SQUARE MILES. IT IS WATERED BY THE MIDDLE AND EAST FORKS OF THE
CHARITON, MUNCUS AND DARK CREEKS, THE SLOPES ARE GENTLE AND THE LAND LIES
IN BEAUTIFUL WAVES. TOWARDS THE SOUTHERN AND WESTERN PARTS OF THE TOWN-
SHIP THE HILLS BECOME MORE ABRUPT, AND IN THE VICINITY OF EAST FORK, ON
THE SOUTH, AND THE MIDDLE FORK, ON THE WEST, IT IS BROKEN AND SOMEWHAT
RAGGED, THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST FARMING SECTIONS OF THE COUNTY. THE SOIL
IS DEEP AND RICH, AFFORDING SUCH A VARIETY, THAT, WITH CARE IN SELECTION OF
POSITION, ALMOST ANY CROP MAY BE DEVELOPED IN PERFECTION. ABOUT ONE-
THIRD OF THE TOWNSHIP IS PRAIRIE, THE BALANCE TIMBER LAND.
THE WABASH RAILROAD PASSES THROUGH THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE TOWN-
SHIP, AND NO POINT IN IT IS DISTANT MORE THAN SEVEN MILES FROM THAT ROAD.
THIS GIVES A CONVENIENT OUTLET TO ALL THE PRODUCTS OF THE FARM AND EASY
SHIPPING OF LIVE STOCK AND OTHER FARM PRODUCTS.
ALL THE FIELD CROPS YIELD HEAVY HARVESTS. CORN WILL YIELD S TO 12 BAR-
RELS OR 40 TO 60 BUSHELS TO THE ACRE; WHEAT 15 TO 25 BUSHELS; OATS, 40 TO
30 BUSHELS; HAY, 1 TO 2 TONS. BESIDES THIS, BLUE GRASS SPONTANEOUSLY, AND
CLOVER WHEN CULTIVATED GIVE RICH CROPS.
KENTUCKY IS MORE LARGELY REPRESENTED IN THE EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THIS
TOWNSHIP THAN ANY OTHER STATE. HER SONS AND HER DAUGHTERS HAVE EVER
BEEN IN THE FRONT RANKS OF CIVILIZATION, AND WHEREVER THEY LOCATED, LIVED
AND DIED, THERE MAY BE FOUND EVEN TO THIS DAY, AMONG THE PRESENT GENERA-
TION, MANY OF THE TRAITS OF CHARACTER WHICH THEY POSSED. EARLY SETTLERS-
IN CLIFTON TOWNSHIP ARE AS FOLLOWS:
JOSEPH BAKER, FROM KENTUCKY; CHARLES BAKER, FROM KENTUCKY; NOAH
BAKER, FROM KENTUCKY; DAVID HARRIS, FROM KENTUCKY; DAVID PROFFIT,
FROM KENTUCKY; SADIE BAKER, FROM KENTUCKY; WIN. TITUS, FROM KENTUCKY;
RUSSELL SHOEMAKER. FROM KENTUCKY; LEVI FOX, FROM TENNESSEE; SAMUEL G.
JOHNSON, FROM TENNESSEE; JOSEPH HARRIS, FROM KENTUCKY; NOAH C. HARRIS,
FROM KENTUCKY; JAMES HOLMAN, FROM KENTUCKY; HIRAM STAMPER, FROM
KENTUCKY; JOHN C. TURNER, FROM KENTUCKY; AUGUSTINE BRADSHER, FROM
KENTUCKY; CAPT. N. G. MATLOCK, FROM KENTUCKY; J. M. SUMMERS, FROM KEN-
TUCKY; T. J. SUMMERS, FMM KENTUCKY; JUDGE D. J. STAMPER, FROM KEN-
TUCKY; JAMES FERGUSON, FROM KENTUCKY; A. G. BUCKER, FROM KENTUCKY;
DAVID BOZARTH, FROM KENTUCKY; F. H. HACKLEY, FROM KENTUCKY; DAVID
MILAN, FROM KENTUCKY; W. H. BALL, FROM KENTUCKY; W B. CRUTCHFIELD
FROM KENTUCKY; J. M. CREIGHTON, FROM KENTUCKY; W. B. ICCREARY, FROM
KENTUCKY; J. M. PATTON, FROM KENTUCKY; E. GREER, FRT M KENTUCKY;
THOMAS WILLIAMS, FROM KENTUCKY; J. H. WAYLAND, FROM KENTUCKY.
SAMUEL G. JOHNSON, BORN IN 1807, WHO WAS ONE OF THE FIRST SETTLERS IN
THE TOWNSHIP, ONCE SPEAKING OF EARLY EVENTS, SAID: ?1 CAME TO THE TOWN-
SHIP OCTOBER 16, 1833, FROM WILSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE. WE ALL LIVED IN
LOG CABINS. MY CABIN HAD A BOARD ROOF, WHICH WAS WEIGHTED DOWN WITH
POLES. WHEN THERE WAS A SNOW STORM THE SNOW WOULD DRIFT THROUGH THE
ROOF, AND AFTER THE STORM WAS OVER, THE SNOW WOULD BE ALMOST AS DEEP ON
THE INSIDE OF THE CABIN AS ON THE OUTSIDE, THE BEDS BEING COVERED LIKE THE
FLOOR. I HAVE AWAKED MANY A MORNING WITH MY HEAD AND NECK COVERED
WITH SNOW, AND AFTER MAKING A FIRE HAD TO CLEAR SWAY THE SNOW FROM AROUND
THE FIRE, SO MY WIFE SOD CHILDREN COULD GET UP TO IT AND WARM.
THE FLOOR OF MY CABIN CONSISTED OF LOOSE PLANKS, SAWED BY HAND. THE
BEDSTEADS WERE MADE OF SMALL LOGS, WITH POLES PUT ACROSS AND BOARDS LAID
ON THEM.?
SUCH WAS THE PRIMITIVE METHOD OF LIVING AND YET THERE WERE COMPEN-
SATIONS AND PLEASURES WHICH WERE EXPERIENCED BY THESE PIONEERS, THAT ARE
WHOLLY UNKNOWN TO THE PEOPLE OF TODAY. THE FORESTS ABOUNDED WITH GAME
AND ALL THE STREAMS TEEMED WITH DELICATE VARIETIES OF FISH.
THE FIRST MILL THAT WAS ERECTED IN THAT SECTION OF THE COUNTY, WAS
BUILT BY EZEKIEL RICHARDSON, IN 1824, ON THE MIDDLE FORK OF THE CHARITON
RIVER. RICHARDSON RESIDED IN CHARITON COUNTY AND SOLD THE MILL TO LEVI
FOX.
THE FIRST RELIGIOUS SERVICES WERE HELD AT JOSEPH BAKER´S HOUSE, BUT
WERE AFTERWARDS ?HELD AT EZEKIEL RICHARDSON´S CABIN, ABOUT THE YEAR 1828.
WHERE THEY WERE CONTINUED UNTIL 1834, WHEN MR. JOHNSON´S CABIN WAS USED
AS S HOUSE OF WORSHIP. AFTER S PERIOD OF FOUR OR FIVE YEARS, S SMALL HOUSE.
KNOWN AS JOHNSON´S SCHOOL HOUSE, WAS ERECTED, WHICH SERVED THE PURPOSES.
OF A CHURCH AND SCHOOL. HERE MET THESE HUMBLE CHRISTIAN WORSHIPERS.
UNTIL 1846, WHEN A LARGER AND MORE COSTLY BUILDING WAS CONSTRUCTED AND.
CALLED PROVIDENCE CHURCH. THIS EDIFICE, ALTHOUGH OOT S VERY STATELY AND
MAGNIFICENT ONE, WAS SOMETHING OF AN ARCHITECTURAL WONDER, AS IT CON-
TAMED 12 CORNERS. THE SERVICES ABOVE MENTIONED WERE CONDUCTED BY THE
METHODISTS, WHO ALSO ERECTED PROVIDENCE CHURCH. AMONG THE EARLY MIN-
ISTERS OF THE GOSPEL WAS REV. JOHN SHORES, A METHODIST.
CLIFTON HILL IS THE ONLY TOWN IN THE TOWNSHIP AND WAS LAID OUT IN 1866,
ON THE SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF THE NORTHEAST QUARTER OF SECTION 35, TOWNSHIP
54, RANGE 16, AND WAS NAMED AFTER DAVID CLIFTON, WHO CAME FROM OWEN
COUNTY, KENTUCKY, ABOUT THE YEAR 1850, AND WAS THE OWNER OF THE TOWN
SITE.
WILLIAM HOLMAN ERECTED THE FIRST HOUSE THAT WAS BUILT IN THE T
THE FIRST HOTEL WAS OPENED BY JULIUS ROGERS. DR, J. J. WATTS WAS THE FIRST
PHYSICIAN TO PRACTICE IN THE TOWN. DR, E. F. WILSON WAS THE FIRST RESIDENT
PHYSICIAN, THE FIRST SCHOOL WAS TAUGHT BY ANSEL RICHARDSON, FROM VIR
GINIA. WILLIAM WAGNER AND JAMES MADDOX WERE THE FIRST SHOEMAKERS
AND W. M. ROBERTS AND CYRUS CLIFTON WERE THE PIONEER BLACKSMITHS.
THE PRESENT VILLAGE OFFICIALS ARE: MAYOR, GEORGE F. CHRISTY; CLERK
EVERETT THURSTON; TREASURER, H. C. EUBANK; COLLECTOR, P. B. BLAKE; STREET
COMMISSIONER, E. E. HURT; MARSHALL, W. B. MCDAVITT. COUNCILMEN
GEORGE F. CHRISTY, EVERETT THURSTON, H. C. EUBANK, P. D. BLAKE, E. E
HURT.
                                 

CHARITON TOWNSHIP.
CHARITON TOWNSHIP LIES IN THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF RANDOLPH AND
BORDERS ON MACON AND CHANITON COUNTIES. IT WAS ORGANIZED IN 1882, AND
OF TERRITORY ORIGINALLY BELONGING TO SALT SPRING TOWNSHIP, AND EXTENDE
12 MILES INTO THE PRESENT LIMITS OF MACON COUNTY, BY THE SUBSEQUENT
ORGANIZATION OF THAT COUNTY CHARITON TOWNSHIP LOST TWO-THIRDS OF ITS TERRI
TORY, AND WAS REDUCED TO ITS PRESENT DIMENSIONS OF 54 SQUARE MILES IN A
RECTANGULAR SHAPE, BEING NINE MILES LONG FROM EAST TO WEST, BY A WIDTH OF
SIX MILES FROM NORTH TO SOUTH.
THE FIRST SETTLEMENT WAS MADE IN ABOUT THE YEAR 1829, BY A FEW
FAMILIES ON EACH SIDE OF DARK´S PRAIRIE, NEAR THE PRESENT SITE OF DARKSVILLE.
THESE WERE FOLLOWED IN THE SPRING AND FALL OF 1830 BY OTHERS, AND FROM
THAT TIME THE COUNTRY WAS RAPIDLY FILLED UP BY IMMIGRANTS FROM VIRGINIA,
NORTH CAROLINA, KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE. IN ABOUT THREE YEARS FROM THE
TIME OF ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT IT HAD ACQUIRED SUFFICIENT POPULATION TO JUSTIFY
ITS ORGANIZATION INTO A SEPARATE TOWNSHIP, WITH JOSEPH TURNER ITS FIRST
MAGISTRATE AND HENRY SMITH ITS FIRST CONSTABLE.
THE SOIL OF THIS TOWNSHIP, WHILE RANKING ALONG WITH THE BEST IN THE
COUNTY, IS REMARKABLE FOR THE UNIFORNTITY OF ITS ADAPTABILITY TO AGRICULTURAL
AND GRAZING PURPOSES, THERE IS VERY LITTLE WASTE LAND IN THE WHOLE TOWN-
SHIP, AND SCARCELY AN ACRE CAN HE FOUND THAT IS NOT VALUABLE FOR GROWING
GRASS OR GRAIN. THE SOIL IS PRINCIPALLY A BLACK LOAM OF GREAT FERTILITY
AND SUFFICIENTLY UNDULATING TO AVERT DISASTER FROM THE CROPS IN EXTREMELY
WET SEASONS, AND YET SUFFICIENTLY RETENTIVE OF MOISURE TO PRESERVE THEM
FROM TOTAL FAILURE IN EXTREME DROUTHS, THE TOWNSHIP IS ABOUT EQUALLY
DIVIDED BETWEEN TIMBER AND PRAIRIE LAND, THE TIMBER EMBRACING WIDE MAR-
GINS ALONG THE STREAMS, AND THE PRAIRIE OCCUPYING THE INTERVENING SPACE.
THIS NATURAL ARRANGEMENT AFFORDED THE EARLY SETTLERS AMPLE SCOPE FOR SELECT-
ING THEIR LANDS WITH A PROPER DIVISION OF TIMBER AND PRAIRIE, AND HAS RE-
SULTED IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SOME OF THE BEST ORGANIZED FARMS FOR MIXED
FARMING M THE COUNTY. THE TOWNSHIP IS WELL WATERED BY FOUR PRINCIPAL
STREAMS AND THEIR TRIBUTARIES, ALL FLOWING FROM NORTH TO SOUTH, AND SO
WELL DISTRIBUTED AS TO FURNISH ABUNDANT STOCK WATER CONVENIENT TO ALL THE
FARMS THE YEAR ROUND. ALONG THE EASTERN MARGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP FLOWS
THE EAST FORK OF THE CHARITON, AND THROUGH THE CENTRAL PORTION, AT AN
AVERAGE DISTANCE OF TWO MILES, ARE DARK CREEK, MUNCAS CREEK, AND THE
MIDDLE FORK OF THE CHARITON, WHILE THE WESTERN PORTION IS WATERED BY A
TRIBUTARY OF THE CHARITON RIVER, THE LATTER OF WHICH FLOWS FROM NORTH TO
SOUTH JUST OUTSIDE OF THE WESTERN BOUNDARY. SURFACE SPRINGS ARE NOT
ABUNDANT, BUT UNFAILING LIVING WATER IS OF EASY ACCESS IN WELL DISTRIBUTED
LOCALITIES THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE TOWNSHIP, BY SINKING WELLS TO A DEPTH OF
10 TO 30 FEET. ITS INHABITANTS ARE ENGAGED ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY IN AGRI-
CULTURAL PURSUITS, AND THE WELL-IMPROVED CONDITION OF THEIR FARMS INDICATE
THEIR GENERAL PROSPERITY.
DARKSVILLE WAS SETTLED IN 1856, AND TAKES ITS NAME FROM A CREEK CALLED
DARK WILLIAIN ELLIOTT WAS HUNTING IN THE TOWNSHIP IN 1821, AND
NIGHT OVERTAKING HIM ON THE BANKS OF A CREEK, HE CAMPED ALL NIGHT, AND
SAID THAT IT WAS THE DARKEST NIGHT HE EVER SAW; HENCE THE NAME, DARK
CREEK.
EARLY SETTLERS OF CHARITON TOWNSHIP BEFORE 1848 WERE: JOHN SUM-
MERS, AARON SUMMERS, JOHNSON WRIGHT, ALLEN WRIGHT, HEZEKIAH WRIGHT,
NATHAN BARROW DANIEL BARROW, JOSHUA PHIPPS, AND JAMES PHIPPS FROM
KENTUCKY; ROBERT CRIMES, FROM VIRGINIA; ROBERT ELLIOTT ROBERT ELLIOTT,
JR., WILLIAM CRISTAL, THOMAS RICE, A. R. RICE, WILLIAM H. RICE, GEORGE
SHIPP AND OWEN SINGLETON FROM KENTUCKY; JOHN W. W. SEARS, FROM VIR-
GINIA; PHILIP BAXTER, WILLIAM TERRY, JONATHAN COZAC AND E. H. TRIMBLE,
FROM KENTUCKY; JOHN H. HALL, FROM MAINE; WILLIAM RUTHERFORD AND JOHN
MCCUUY, FROM KENTUCKY; MATHIAS TURNER, JOSEPH TURNER AND JOHN M.
TURNER, FROM TENNESSEE; MRS. WRIGHT, MRS, MARY DAWKINS AND HENRY
GRIFFITH, FROM KENTUCKY; JOHN M. GATES, GILES F. COOK AND JAMES CARTER,
FROM VIRGINIA; JAMES LINGO, SAMUEL LINGO, G. W. HARLAND, ISAAC HARLAND
AND JAMES HARLAND, FROM TENNESSEE; HANCOCK JACKSON AND WILLIAM SUMP-
TER, FROM KENTUCKY; BURCHARD MCCORMICK, JOHN GAINES AND JOHN HEAD,
FROM VIRGINIA; THOMAS ROBERT AND OHITWOOD, FROM KENTUCKY;
JAMES HOLEMAN, THOMAS GILLSTRAP AND THOMAS WHITE; WILLIAM BROGAN AND
HENRY BROGAN FROM NORTH CAROLINA; BLACK; NATHANIEL TULEY,
FROM VIRGINIA; JAMES HINTON, FROM NORTH CAROLINA; GREEN SHELTON AND N
TUTTLE, FROM TENNESSEE; WILLIAM A. HALL AND JOHN H. HALL, FROM MAINE; DR
R. L GRIZARD, FROM TENNESSEE; DR. STEPHEN RICHMOND, FROM NORTH CARO-
LINA JOHN HARLAND, JOSIAH HARLAND, LEE HARLAND, JOSIAH SMITH, HENRY
SMITH, JOHN SMITH, JAMES SMITH, WILLIAM BEARD, JOSIAH TAYLOR, FROM
TENNEASEE; WILLIAM REDD. FROM VIRGINIA; JOHN RICHMOND, SAMUEL RICH-
MOND, JAMES M. RICHMOND, JOHN DAMERON AND JAMES DAMERON, FROM
NORTH CAROLINA; PIPES AND WILLIAM PIPES, FROM KENTUCKY; JOHN
HIX, ELLIOTT R. THOMAS, HENRY THOMAS, LOWDEN THOMAS, ? HAINES,
FROM VIRGINIA; BRUCE STEWART, FRANCES TERRELL, NED STINSON, JOHN WILKS,
TYRA BAKER, ANDREW BAKER, DOUGLAS BAKER, ALFRED MCDANIEL, THOMAS
KIRKPATRICK, EPHRIAM SNELL, JORDAN ELLIOTT, PERRY ELLIOTT, WIILLAM ELLIOTT,
JR., H. M. RICE, JOSHUA RICE, BENNETT RICE, YANCEY GRAY, MIKE MCCULLY,
JOHN MCCULLEY, JR., ROBERT TURNER, ELIJAH TURNER, JOHN TURNER, CARROLL
HOLMAN JOHN GODARD, SAMUEL TURNER, BARTLETT ANDERSON, JOHN R. ANDER-
SON, CRAFFORD POWERS, CAMPBELL, JOHN CAMPBELL, THOMAS CAMP-
BELL, WILLIAM EDWARDS, JAMES LAMB, ASHBURY SUMMERS, THOMAS EGAN,
BENJAMIN COZAD, JOHN TERRILL, CASWELL SMITH, GRANT ALLAN, HENRY JOHNSON,
GEORGE H. HALL, GEORGE W. BARNHART, AND SILAS PHIPPA.
ONE OF THE OLDEST SETTLERS IN THE TOWNSHIP WAS JUDGE JOSEPH TURNER.
HE WAS BORN IN NORTH CAROLINA, IN 1802, MOVED WITH HIS PARENTS TO TENNES-
SEE IN 1815, WAS MARRIED IN 1822, AND MOVED TO MISSOURI AND ENTERED THE
LAND ON WHICH HE NOW RESIDES, NEAR ELDAD CHURCH, IN 1830. HE WAS AP-
POINTED JUSTICE OF THE PEACE BEFORE THE TOWNSHIP WAS ORGANIZED~ AND HAD
JURISDICTION TO THE IOWA LINE. HE HELD THE OFFICE OF JUSTICE OF THE PEACE
UNTIL 1850. IN 1861 HE WAS APPOINTED COUNTY COURT JUSTICE, WAS PRESIDENT
OF THAT BODY, AND HELD THE POSITION NEARLY SIX YEARS. WHEN HE FIRST SET-
TLED HE HAD FOR NEIGHBORS JOSEPH HOLMAN, GEORGE EPPERLY, RICHARD BLUE
AND ASA KIRBY. THESE WERE, PERHAPS, THE FIRST SETTLERS ON THE WEST SIDE
OF DARK´S PRAIRIE. RICHARD BLUE AND ASA KIRBY WERE THE ONLY HEADS OF
FAMILIES THEN RESIDING WEST OF THE MIDDLE FORK, JOHN RICHMOND MOVED TO
RANDOLPH COUNTY FROM TENNESSEE IN 1830, AND LIVED IN SILVER CREEK TOWN-
SHIP UNTIL THE FALL OF 1832, WHEN HE ENTERED 120 ACRES OF LAND WHERE NE
LIVED AND BUILT HIS CABIN UPON IT IN PIONEER STYLE. HE RAISED A FAMILY
OF SIX CHILDREN, FOUR BOYS AND TWO GIRLS. WHEN HE FIRST CAME TO THE TOWN-
SHIP, THE FIRST SETTLERS OF THAT NEIGHBORHOOD, ALREADY MENTIONED, HAD BEEN
INCREASED BY THE ADDITION OF YANCEY GRAY, MARK CRABTREE, SAMUEL RICH-
MOND, JOSIAH SMITH, HENRY SMITH, JAMES LINGO, SAMUEL LINGO, ISAAC HAR-
LAN. JOHN WITHES, ANDREW BAKER, TYREE BAKER, JESSE MILLER THOMAS KIRK-
PATRICK AND GREENBURY SHELTON. SOME OF THESE MADE THEIR SETTLEMENTS
ABOUT THE SAME TIME WITH MR. RICHMOND. AMONG THOSE WHO SETTLED IN
HIS NEIGHBORHOOD SOON AFTER HIM WERE DANIEL MILAM, JOHN GRAY, JONATHAN
HAYNES, THOMAS BROOKES, JOHN MCCULLY AND MADISON RICHMOND, ON THE
EAST SIDE OF DARK´S PRAIRIE, SOUTH AND EAST OF THE PRESENT SITE OF DARKS
VILLE, WERE LIVING AT THAT TIME (1832) JOHNSON WRIGHT, JOHN WAYMIRE,
JOSEPH SUMMERS, HODGE ENGLAND, AND PLEASANT AND NICHOLAS TUTTLE. WITH
THE LAST NAMED LIVED THEIR FATHER, A VERY AGED MAN AND A REVOLUTIONARY
SOLDIER.
AMONG THE STRONGEST MINDED AND MOST INFLUENTIAL MEN OF HIS DAY IN
THAT TOWNSHIP WAS JOHN M. YATES. HE IMMIGRATED FROM KENTUCKY TO
RANDOLPH COUNTY ABOUT 1835 AND AFTER LIVING A YEAR OR TWO IN THE SOUTHERN
PART OF THE COUNTY, SETTLED ON DARK´S PRAIRIE ABOUT THE YEAR 1835, AND DIED
ON A FARM ADJOINING THE ONE HE FIRST SETTLED IN THE YEAR 1872. HE WAS
TWICE MARRIED AND RAISED 15 CHILDREN, 13 OF HIS OWN AND 2 STEPDAUGHTERS.
MR. YATES WAS AN UNCLE OF THE CELEBRATED RICHARD YATES, ONCE GOV-
ERNOR OF ILLINOIS AND U. S. SENATOR FROM THAT STATE, AND WAS HIMSELF A MAN
OF MUCH MORE THAN ORDINARY INTELLIGENCE AND SOUNDNESS OF JUDGMENT.
JUDGE WILLIAM A. HALL WAS BORN AND PARTLY RAISED IN THE STATE OF
MAINE. HIS FATHER HAVING BEEN APPOINTED TO A POSITION IN THE U. S. ARMORY
AT HARPER´S FERRY, VA., HE MOVED WITH HIS PARENTS TO THAT PLACE, AND WHEN
THEY MOVED TO CHARITON TOWNSHIP, ABOUT THE YEAR 1839, HE SOON FOLLOWED
THEM. BEING THEN A YOUNG MAN NEARLY 25 YEARS OF AGE. ABOUT THAT TIME
HIS FATHER DIED, AND HE MADE HIS HOME WITH HIS WIDOWED MOTHER, ALTHOUGH
HE KEPT HIS LAW OFFICE IN FAYETTE, MO., AND FOR A SHORT TIME EDITED A DEMO-
CRATIC PAPER IN THAT PLACE. HE MADE REGULAR VISITS TO HIS MOTHER´S HOME
IN CHARITON COUNTY WHENEVER HIS PROFESSIONAL DUTIES WOULD PERMIT, AND
VERY OFTEN WALKED THE ENTIRE DISTANCE OF OVER THIRTY MILES. HE RAPIDLY
ADVANCED TO THE FRONT RANK IN HIS PROFESSION, AND ON THE DEATH OF JUDGE
LELAND, WHICH OCCURRED ABOUT THE YEAR 1846, HE WAS APPOINTED BY THE
GOVERNOR JUDGE OF THIS JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, A POSITION TO WHICH HE WAS CON-
TINUOUSLY RE-ELECTED UNTIL 1861, WHEN HE WAS ELECTED TO REPRESENT THE DIS-
TRICT OF WHICH RANDOLPH WAS A PART, IN THE U. S. CONGRESS. ABOUT THE
TIME HE WAS FIRST APPOINTED JUDGE, HE WAS MARRIED TO MISS OCTAVIA SEBREE,
A NIECE AND ADOPTED DAUGHTER OF URIEL SEBREE, A PROMINENT CITIZEN OF HOW-
ARD COUNTY. SOON AFTER HIS MARRIAGE HE SETTLED ON HIS FARM IN CHARITON
TOWNSHIP, WHERE HE REMAINED UNTIL HE REMOVED TO HUNTSVILLE IN 1861, AND
THE FOLLOWING YEAR TO A FARM NEAR HUNTSVILLE.
IN THE WINTER OF 1860-61, JUDGE HALL WAS CHOSEN, WITH GEN. STERLING
PRICE, TO REPRESENT THIS SENATORIAL DISTRICT, THEN COMPOSED OF RANDOLPH AND
CHARITON COUNTIES, IN THE STATE CONVENTION CALLED BY THE LEGISLATURE TO CON-
SIDER THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE STATE OF MISSOURI AND THE GENERAL GOVERN-
MENT, IN VIEW OF THE THEN IMPENDING CRISIS WHICH THREATENED A DISRUPTION
OF THE UNION BY THE SECESSION OF THE SOUTHERN STATES. IN THAT CONVENTION
HE SIDED WITH THE MAJORITY IN FAVOR OF THE STATE CONTINUING HER ALLEGIANCE
AND LOYALTY TO THE UNION, AND DURING THE WAR THAT FOLLOWED REMAINED A
CONSISTENT UNION MAN. BY HIS CONSERVATIVE POSITION AND ABLE MANAGEMENT
HE DID MORE TO PROTECT THE SOUTHERN PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTY AND STATE FROM
MILITARY DESPOTISM AND THE LAWLESS SETS OF AN UNRESTRAINED SOLDIERY, THAN
ANY OTHER MAN, HE WAS TWICE ELECTED TO CONGRESS DURING THE WAR, AND
AT ITS CLOSE HE RESUMED THE PRACTICE OF HIS PROFESSION AT HUNTSVILLE, IN
WHICH HE CONTINUED UNTIL ABOUT 1874, WHEN HE IMPROVED ANOTHER FARM IN
THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF CHARITON TOWNSHIP, WHERE HE RESIDED IN COMPLETE
RETIREMENT FROM PUBLIC LIFE, IN THE BOSOM OF HIS FAMILY AND SURROUNDED
BY HIS FLOCKS AND HERDS.