CHAPTER XIV
While it has been repeatedly stated that it is not the purpose of this part of the History to be a biographical account, yet the author has in preceding chapters suggested a few of the names of men and women who came among the early settlers. Prior to this chapter, he has discussed the arrival of many who came earlier than 1840. In that year, Deepwater township was organized. In 1841, Alexander Gregg was appointed justice of the peace. In the following year, a number of settlers had moved to the township; it was more than ten years later, however, before Doctor Stewart built the first house in Germantown and the first store there was opened in the year 1857 by Jacob Goldsmith. Mr. Goldsmith used for his store-room a little frame building which Doctor Stewart had put up for his office. This was the beginning of the town of Germantown.
In 1850 a post office called Deepwater, was opened at John C. Stone's, some three miles east of Germantown. In 1855, John H. Austin took it to his cabin, where he held it until 1860, when James Gates moved it to his home, two miles farther north. Two years later, it was returned to the widow of John H. Austin, where it remained until 1864 when it was removed to Germantown, although the name of the post office was never changed. As stated elsewhere, William Tyree was the first man to settle in the open prairie; here, in this part of the county, he raised his family.
In the northeastern part of the county, there was also a scene of settlement activity. As was also stated in another chapter, the town of Calhoun was laid out by Mr. Nash, in 1835. The first tavern license was granted in November, 1845, to John Taylor, who paid twenty dollars for the privilege. Mathew Arbuckle, in February, 1846, received a license to open a saloon in Calhoun; in August, 1844, was held the first election in the town of Calhoun.
Among the early organizations of Henry County, was the organization of the Bear Creek Methodist Episcopal Church, South. It is not necessarily to try to recall the names of the original members; suffice it to mention the fact that in 1855, they built Bear Creek Church, a frame structure which cost at the time, $700; the first pastor was Rev. McDaniel and the first presiding elder, Rev. Jamison. In Leesville township, the Tebo Baptist Church, organized in 1841, also erected a building in the year 1855, at a cost of some $600; this congregation, however, had previously erected a log building in the year of their organization; the first pastor was Daniel Briggs. Mount Olivet Church, of Springfield township, was organized in 1844; the Rev. William A. Gray, who had taught school several years, but who had been ordained a minister in 1843, secured the organization and building of a local church. Rev. P. C. Colwell, of Johnson County, helped to complete the organization, but the Rev. William A. Gray was installed the first pastor. For a number of years, the church also served as a school house. In 1852, however, another church was erected, it being displaced in 1874 by a modern church building.
The years between 1850 and 1860 marked a steady growth all over the county. Two new townships were organized, Bogard being organized in 1857 and Osage in 1858. The settlers in the town of Clinton thought it worth while to incorporate and consequently, in the year 1858, the following petition for incorporation was filed with the County Court: "Whereas, a petition was presented to the court signed by sundry citizens of the town of Clinton in this county, praying to have said town incorporated, and setting forth the metes and bounds thereof, and it appearing to the satisfaction of the court that two-thirds of the taxable inhabitants of said town have signed said petition, and, also, that the prayer of said petition is reasonable. It is therefore ordered by the court that the said town of Clinton be declared to be incorporated within the following metes and bounds as set forth in said petition, to wit: The southeast quarter of section number three, and that part of the west half of the southwest quarter of section two, lying south of Franklin street, contained in Davis' Addition to said town, all in township number forty one (41) of range number 26, and to be known, styled by the name of the "Town of Clinton"; and the court do hereby appoint George H. Warth, William H. Schroeder, William H. Cock, Jerald G. Dorman and Andrew M. Tutt, a board of trustees for said town, according to the statute in such cases made and provided."
"February 6, 1858."
Twenty-three years after Clinton was first settled, or in the year 1860, it had a population of 500.
In 1855, R. F. Taylor, who had located in Henry County in 1839 and who had purchased the ground upon which the city of Windsor now stands, platted the town which was first called Belmont. An attempt was soon made to change the name, of Belmont to Spring Grove; upon taking the matter up with the postal authorities, it was found that there was not only another Belmont in the State of Missouri, but also another Spring Grove. It was then that Robert D. Means urged the name of Windsor. Two years before the town was platted, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was organized. The old school house erected about a half mile west of the present town site of the city of Windsor, was used as the first building. In this church, the first pastor, Rev. J. M. Kelley preached. He was succeeded in turn by Rev. Joseph Wood and Rev. Bond. The first postmaster of Windsor was Jefferson Means, serving only three months, some three years before the town was laid out. It must be remembered that the post office was not called Windsor at this time. In fact, in the year 1862, Mrs. Egbert King took the post office over into Pettis County, some two miles from Belmont, as the town was called.
The year 1857 saw the beginning of the town of Germantown. Here John H. Austin bought a lot of about one-half acre in extent for $38. After the village of Germantown was started, the Catholics moved their church from about a mile and a half away on Mr. Schmedding's land, to the present site of the Germantown Church. This old stone church, which still remains, has since that time received many additions and much alterations; it still stands, however, a monument to the work of the men and women who have lived in that community and who have followed the faith of their fathers all through the years.
Prior to 1870, there seemed to be a bright future for Germantown; the coming of the railroad, however, through Montrose, four miles away, made Montrose and not Germantown the center of business, and therefore the populous town in the southwestern part of the county. During these ten years, Tebo township boasted of about one-fourth of the population of the county. In 1850, the number was 1,164; this had more than doubled by 1860.
Another church was organized in the neighborhood of the Fields' settlement in the year 1857. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was built at the cost of about $600. The first minister was Rev. Durant; later. Rev. J. Headley, Rev. Henry Webster and Rev. J. C. Thompson, ministered to the congregation. This church was near the well-known Fields' settlement; Joseph Fields was one of the first settlers and afterwards, the first sheriff of the county. His brother, Nathan, settled in Henry County in 1834. On account of this settlement, the creek was called Fields Creek - it had formerly been called Lake Creek. This fact brings out the significance of many of the names of the streams of water; the little stream running through Clinton was called Town Creek, because it ran by the town. The names of Fields Creek and Town Creek still survive.
The first voting precinct in Big Creek township was at the house of Thomas Kimsey. The Kimsey school house was designated as the voting precinct in 1858. In 1865, the County Court ordered the voting precinct to be changed to Huntingdale, where it has since remained.
Osage township was organized in the year 1858. Judge Hillegas, one of the county judges, settled in this township in 1856. The order of the court organizing Osage township, is as follows:
"Ordered, that a municipal township be established within the following boundaries, to wit:
"Beginning at a point on Grand River, where the county line between Benton and Henry intersects said river; thence south to the corner of the county; thence west along the county line dividing Henry and Saint Clair Counties to where the range line between ranges 26 and 27 intersects the county line; thence north along said range line to where it intersects Deepwater Creek; thence east down the main channel of said Deepwater Creek to where it intersects Grand River; thence down the middle of the channel of said river to place of beginning.
"And that the house of George W. Bowles be constituted and declared the voting precinct of said township, and that said township be known and called by the name of Osage township and that the same be certified forthwith."
In 1853, Grand River township petitioned the County Court not to grant a dramshop license in the township; so far as is known, this is the first case where there was any organized attempt to prevent the issuance of dramshop licenses in the county.
The town of Leesville was laid out by A. J. Lee and John French, in the year 1834. French built the first store and Lee, the first residence. Lee occupied the store, however, as the first merchant and became the first postmaster. He called the name of the town, "Tebo," after Tebo township. The second residence in the town was built by Doctor Hill, who was the first physician. The first blacksmith was A. Dempsey. D. B. Reavis had a horsepower sawmill and sawed out the lumber for both his own dwelling and for that of A. J. Lee. Robert Briggs taught the first school, near Tebo Church. In 1857 the name of the post office was changed from Tebo to Leesville, because the name of the town had been so changed. Mr. Lee remained postmaster until 1860, at the time he closed out his business. He was succeeded by William L. Pigg.
A few miles from Leesville, a little village which went by the name of Coale's store, was settled in 1859. The village which grew up around the store was called Coalesburg, after 1880. The post office which had been known as Galbreath, was called Coalesburg after that time; later, the name was changed to Coale, as it still remains, although the post office has been discontinued, patrons being served by rural routes out of Clinton.
On the 6th of September, 1854, the Bethlehem Baptist Church was organized in the residence of Mr. James Lee. In 1856, the first church was built, Elder Peter Brown serving as its first pastor. In the same year, but two months later, the Surprise Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized, the Rev. J. H. Houk being the first pastor.
