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HISTORIC

1889 Squirrel Cage Jail Visitors Center 310 W. Jackson Street Gallatin, Missouri

About the Squirrel Cage Jail

People & Other Things You Should Know

Architectural Antique Restored, Listed on National Register . . . 2

Railroad Towns Grow in Daviess County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Lawmen Who Called the Rotary Jail Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Public Hangings of Joe Jump and John Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Rotary Jails Built Across America; Which Ones Still Exist . . . . . 5

Great Escapes from the Squirrel Cage Jail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Crime Stories in Daviess County, MO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Grand River College in Gallatin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Civil War in Daviess County, MO

McDonald Team Room: Everyone Knows Virginia!. . . . . . . . . . 27 From Gallatin to Antarctica — Admiral Richard H. Cruzen . . . . 28

Skirmish at Cravensville; Battles at Glasgow, Westport . . . . . . . 8

A Courthouse Antique: Seth Thomas Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Gallatin’s Legendary Civil War Hero — Major Samuel Cox . . . . 9

Bell Lab Scientist — GHS Valedictorian Mervin Kelley . . . . . . . 30

Bugler Adolph Vogel Most Likely Killed Bloody Bill Anderson . . 10

Other Daviess Countians You Should Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Outlaws Frank & Jesse James

County’s Namesake — Joseph Hamilton Daviess . . . . . . . . . . 32

After the Civil War: A Trail of Terror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 1869 Robbery, Murder at the Daviess County Savings Assn.. . 12 Gallatin Farmer Daniel Smoote Sues Jesse James . . . . . . . . . 13 1883 Trial of Frank James in Gallatin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Frontier Development Daviess County’s First Jail: The ‘Pit Jail’. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Indian Trails Lead Way for Today’s Roads, Highways . . . . . . . 17 Town’s Namesake — Abraham Alphonse Albert Gallatini . . . . . 18 Nationally Acclaimed Gunsmith — Valentine Shuler. . . . . . . . . 19 ‘Mormon War’ and the Governor’s Extermination Order . . . . . . 20 Lewis Mill on the Grand River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

This informational edition was prepared by Darryl Wilkinson and printed May 18, 2021, as a community service at Gallatin Publishing Company. Articles are based on a wide variety of sources, including newspapers such as the Gallatin Democrat and Gallatin North Missourian. This edition reformats many of the historical displays now exhibited at the Squirrel Cage Jail Visitors Center.

Much of the historical content presented herein is also presented on www.DaviessCountyHistoricalSociety.com, a free website hosted and maintained by Gallatin Publishing Company.

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Gallatin Publishing Company 609B South Main, Gallatin, Missouri 64640 ©2021. All Rights Reserved.

An Architectural Antique Oddity:

Daviess County Squirrel Cage Jail Rotary jails, where a round "squirrel cage" divided into jail cells spins on a single axis inside a perimeter of stationary bars, are antiques. This relic stands as one of the most unusual means of housing prisoners yet devised.

The jail design delivered on providing high security with minimal supervision. Sanitation, winter heating, and hand-crank operation were habitual problems.

The construction of this jail with attached sheriff ’s residence was completed in 1888. It is the octagon-shaped jail building (not the 2-story residence) that puts this facility on the national register. The entire facility, however, was unusual, in that both the jail and the residence were constructed simultaneously here.

This Property has Been Placed on the

National Register of Historic Places

LIVING ROOM

by the United States Department of the Interior

JAIL ENTRANCE ROOM

(1989) ENTRY FOYER

After years of operational frustration, the ironworks of the squirrel cage were scrapped in 1964. The octagon brick building was substantially modified for continued

DINING ROOM

use. Fortunately, the jail entrance was unchanged and

RESIDENCE KITCHEN

(AUTHENTIC OPERABLE JAIL ENTRY)

remains authentic to original design; the rotary jail was replaced with a single wall to divide floor space into two large rooms. Metal plates were welded together securing interior cell walls. Stationary jail bars which comprised the

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

original squirrel cage were cut apart and welded together to form holding cells within each of the larger rooms.

BEVELED STATIONARY JAIL BARS

JAIL CELL CUTAWAY GEAR TEETH ON PERIMETER OF ROTATING JAIL MESHED WITH HAND CRANK

LATRINE FOR EACH CELL FLUSHED BY WATER FROM ABOVE INTO CATCH TROUGH BELOW

Things to Notice:

This photo is of the east half of the rotary jail during its later years of use, after the squirrel cage ironworks were scrapped. Gears were removed, the floor replaced with concrete, and the circular jail bars were cut and reassembled to form a holding cell (shown at right). This was how the jail interior appeared when efforts to save the unique jail from a derelict demise began.

The jail with these modifications was in use until 1975.

Radio dispatchers worked and lived in the sheriff ’s residence until 1978 when the county vacated the premises entirely. The

• Foundation limestones reused from previous jail (was located near the courthouse)

facility withstood neglect until volunteer efforts to revitalize

• 3-brick thick walls; residence original but replacement brick on the exterior of the jail

the jail led to its listing on the national register in 1989.

• Sandstone windowsills (original, mined from Daviess County)

When in use, prisoners were taken to jail using the

• Authentic hand crank, gear & shaft inside the prisoners’ locker at jail entrance

doorway on the east side of this facility. Since not all of the

• Authentic beveled jail bars (reconstructed jail bars are welded)

original rotary jail parts were found, today you may walk into a

• Jail wall metal plating (added during mid-1960s remodeling)

recreation of the small

• Circle crack in concrete jail floor shows original stone walkway around the squirrel cage

pie-shaped cells to get

• Authentic graffiti on jail walls by prisoners since mid-1960s remodeling

a sense of where many were forced to live for

The 1889 Squirrel Cage Jail is the property of Daviess County with facility management provided by the Daviess County Historical Society.

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HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

various periods of sentenced time.

©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company

Antique Restored in the early 1990s

What still lies beneath...

The wastewater collection trough still encircles the rotary jail’s center hub amid crawl space debris

©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

3

They Called It Home...

As jails go, rotary jails today are considered antique relics. Here the sheriff ’s residence is attached to the octagon brick jail which housed 8 pie-shaped cells spinning around a single center axis. Since originally a 1-tier rotary jail spun within a circle of stationary security bars, this rotary jail became commonly known as the “Squirrel Cage Jail.” For the men elected to serve as sheriff while the Squirrel Cage Jail was used to incarcerate inmates, this place was home.

Only 18 rotary jails were ever built in the United States, according to patent records.

Daviess County’s rotary jail differed from others in that a modest sheriff ’s residence was constructed simultaneously with the jail – for good reason. The sheriff ’s family was expected to assist in prisoner care, including wives cooking meals for inmates. Providing a residence was an important part of the pay

17 Served as County Sheriff While This Jail Was in Use:

package offered to candidates by the county

• 1888 Gabe W. Cox • 1890 O.P. Walters • 1892 E.S. Lankford • 1896 William A. Johnson • 1900 R.D. McCray • 1904 William T. Hutchison • 1908 J.A. Blair • 1920 J. Frank Gildow • 1926 Ben B. Houghton • 1930 Frank Sweany • 1934 W.T. Hutchison • 1938 Frank Sweany • 1942 Harry Reeder • 1946 Frank Sweany • 1954 A.F. “Buster” Clements, Jr. • 1958 Leland Houghton • 1970 Harold Appley • 1974 Leland Houghton

The rotary jail, with its sewage flush trough

SOURCE: Daviess County Clerk’s Office

(less cash, happier taxpayers).

design, was quite likely Gallatin’s first indoor toilet. Not so in the sheriff ’s residence; outhouses were still the norm.

In 1920 Gallatin put in a new sewer service; the jail’s toilet facilities were updated.

In 1888 when this facility was built, the large foundation limestones for the basement came from the previous jail near the courthouse.

Sandstone windowsills were quarried from the west side of the county. The rotary jail, shipped by rail, arrived like a kit ...ready for assembly. Local contractors built the brick building around the Squirrel Cage.

Use of the sheriff ’s residence was as you might expect. Three bedrooms are upstairs.

The two main floor parlor rooms provided space for guests and family living. Interior entry to the jail was through the kitchen.

The rotating ironworks were scrapped in 1964.

Some cage parts were reconfigured to provide

two large stationary cells. By decree of the State Fire Marshal, the county discontinued use of the jail to house inmates by 1975. The residence was offered to radio dispatchers for the sheriff ’s department for another three years. Then the entire facility stood vacant, abandoned and neglected for nearly two decades before volunteer efforts and donations reaped results, an effort which continues to this day.

Grub ...at $2 per day The wives of the men elected sheriff were expected to feed the prisoners. Food was sent to the prisoners through a "grub hole” to assure inmates were always behind bars.

Early records show the room for prisoner admittance had a wood cook stove; thus, this room is called the jail kitchen while the adjoining room in the sheriff ’s living quarters was called the residence kitchen. By the time that Mary Louise Appley (wife of Sheriff Harold Appley 1970-74) arrived, the jail was but a shell of its original operational design.

But providing food for prisoners was just like always. In a newspaper account, Mrs. Appley recalled feeding prisoners the same things she fed her family.

"I cooked like I did for my family," she said. "There were almost no facilities for separate meals, so it was either one or the other. I made roasts, soups, stews -- good food.

And we didn't get anything for it. They allowed you $2 per day to feed your prisoners.

That was supposed to be for three meals."

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HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

SOURCE: Rural Missouri (magazine), by Jim McCarty,1987

Shot While on Duty Like most local law officers, Daviess County Sheriff Leland Houghton worked to develop good relationships with the youth.

But on Sept. 11, 1977, Sheriff Houghton was shot to death after towing a 16-year-old's car following a traffic violation.

After Sheriff Houghton handled the traffic stop late one night, he took the youth and also his mother to their home located about 5 miles northwest of Gallatin. As Houghton started to leave, the youth flashed the porch light, and approached the patrol car, opening the passenger door. He pointed a pistol at Houghton, shooting twice, then he reloaded the handgun and fired a third time.

Sheriff Houghton was found still conscious when other officers arrived at about 3 a.m., but the sheriff was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital in nearby Cameron, MO. S.L. “Leland” Houghton previously served as county sheriff for three terms, then worked as a lieutenant for the Buchanan County Sheriff's Department and then as a security guard in Daviess County. His father, Ben Houghton, was also a Daviess County Sheriff (note: his son, Tom, later would also serve as county sheriff). When shot, Leland Houghton, 65, was old enough to retire but he continued to serve, encouraged by many who still wanted him as sheriff. He had never been injured before while serving in the line of duty.

SOURCE: Gallatin North Missourian, Sept. 14, 1977

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Rotary Jails Built in the United States Listed in order of construction; 3 rotary jails still existing shown in bold face 1. Crawfordsville (Montgomery County), Indiana – begun 1881, opened 1882. Haugh, Ketchum & Co. Iron Works; designed by William H. Brown; 2-tier. Closed 1973, now a museum.

2. Maryville (Nodaway County), Missouri – 1882. Haugh, Ketchum & Co. Iron Works; designed by Eckel and Mann; 2-tier.

Demolished 1985 to make way for a new jail.

3. Paducah (McCracken County), Kentucky – 1884. Haugh, Ketchum & Co. Iron Works; architect designer unknown.

Demolished 1934.

4. Council Bluffs (Pottawattamie County), Iowa – 1885. Haugh, Ketchum & Co. Iron Works; designed by Eckel and Mann; 3-tier. Closed 1969, now a museum.

5. Maysville (DeKalb County), Missouri – 1885. Haugh, Ketchum & Co. Iron Works; designed by Eckel and Mann.

Demolished 1938.

6. Appleton (Outagamie County), Wisconsin – 1887. Patent pending to Pauly Jail Building and Manufacturing Company of St. Louis while construction in process. Closed 1905; date of demolition unknown.

Subsequent rotary jails were built by Pauly Jail Building and Manufacturing Co. of St. Louis between 1887 and 1889. This company is the nation’s oldest correctional facilties contractor, established in 1856 and still in business today.

The Pauly Catalog of 1888 offered more than 600 jail designs from which to choose.

7. Rapid City (Pennington County), South Dakota Territory – between 1885 and 1887. Demolished 1921 to make way for a new courthouse and jail.

8. Williamsport (Warren County), Indiana – 1886. A 1-tier built in the courthouse basement. Destroyed by fire Jan. 20, 1907.

9. Sherman (Grayson County), Texas – 1887. 2-tier. Closed 1936. Date of demolition unknown.

10. Burlington (Chittenden County), Vermont – 1887. Date of demolition unknown.

11. Salt Lake (Salt Lake County), Utah Territory – 1887. 2-tier. Vacated 1911, demolished 1927.

12. Charleston (Kanawah County), West Virginia – 1887. Date of demolition unknown.

13. Oswego (Oswego County), New York – 1887. Rotary cage operated electronically. Condemned 1909. Date of demolition unknown.

14. Dover (Strafford County), New Hampshire – 1888. Demolished 1918.

15. Gallatin (Daviess County), Missouri – 1888. 1-tier. Rotary cage dismantled during building modifications in the early 1960s before jail closed in 1975 (residence used for radio dispatch until 1979). Static display of rotary cage reconstructed in 1992, by inmates enrolled in vocational classes at Western Missouri Correctional Center at Cameron, MO, when the jail became an visitors informational center and museum.

16. Wichita (Sedgwick County), Kansas – 1888. Demolished 1919.

17. Waxahachie (Ellis County), Texas – 1888. Building structure survives but substantially altered; rotary cage dismantled.

18. Pueblo (Pueblo County), Colorado – 1888. 2-tier. Rotary cages dismantled 1969. Date of demolition unknown.

Only 3 Rotary Jails Still Exist Today All Existing Rotary Jails on the National Register of Historic Places

10 14 6

7

11

13

4 1 8

2 5 11 15

THE 12

UNITED STATES OF

18 16

AMERICA M

3

1888 M

9 17

Council Bluffs, Iowa 3-tier rotary jail (intact but inoperative)

When the Daviess County Squirrel Cage Jail was being built in 1888, there were 38 states in the Union

Crawfordsville, Indiana 2-tier rotary jail, still operational

Gallatin, Missouri 1-tier static rotary jail display (entry & some parts authentic)

©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

5

CRIME STORIES

What kind of people were jailed?

All kinds. Jailed for a variety of reasons.

Not every suspect or criminal is as notorious as Frank & Jesse James. But prisoners calling the Squirrel Cage Jail “home” each have a story.

These are among the most notorious, most occurring during the decades the rotary jail was in use.

An Unsolved Murder 1887 – John Gagan, McFall An eccentric old Irishman, John Gagan, lived alone in a large 12-room farmhouse near McFall, MO. For months since his divorce, Gagan claimed his ex-wife and children were trying to drive him out of the country. But not much attention was paid. Then about 5 p.m. on a Friday in December, the house and numerous other buildings were saturated with coal oil and set ablaze. The old man escaped cremation, saved a few belongings, and defiantly moved into a nearby smokehouse. The next heard of the old man was the report of his death. An inquest confirmed that a .38 caliber bullet severed a large artery causing almost instant death. Gagan's revolver, with every chamber loaded, was found on his person thus precluding any theory of suicide. A suspect was apprehended, based on boot tracks at the crime scene, but later released. This murder remains unsolved.

Other Murders 1906 – Dr. T.B. Jackson, Altamont Dr. T.B. Jackson of Altamont, MO, was shot down in his drug store by Don Woodworth. Both men, known to be hot-tempered, apparently were in dispute over ownership of furniture. Woodworth claimed self defense against charges of murder in the fourth degree. The jury's verdict resulted in a fine of $500.

1913 – Edward Donaldson, Gallatin Edward Donaldson, the 23-year-old acquaintance of a 16-year-old Gallatin girl, was killed by gunshot during an ambush attack. The motive was not robbery nor was the crime the result of any jealousy.

As printed by the Gallatin Democrat in its Aug. 7, 1913, edition: "It might have been done by a man of weak intellect, who considered himself custodian of Dockery Park. The evidence given during the coronor's inquest leads to that conclusion." A coroner's inquest recommended that a 32-year-old Gallatin man be arrested, linked to boot tracks at the crime scene near Dockery Park. But the jurists admitted that the death from a gunshot was fired by some person unknown.

Bank Robbery 1922 – First National Bank of Gallatin Six armed men used a large quantity of nitroglycerin to badly damage the vault, steel safe, front of the bank building, and much of the interior to steal about $4,000. Several shots were fired during the hour the bandits were in town. Night watchman John Chamberlin, Mayor J.H. Tate, and hotelman Frank Woodruff were each slightly wounded. Most of the telephone and telegraph lines were cut. All of the gang escaped and were never identified.

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HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

The Nitro Chism Gang

(1909)

POSSE CHASE ENDS IN SHOOTOUT DEATH Few are the times in Daviess County when law officers need to use a gun. One of these happened on Monday, March 29, 1909, when the "Nitro Chism Gang" hit Jamesport.

The bandits were first spotted about 11:15 a.m. by the conductor of an eastbound freight train before it stopped at Jamesport. The conductor knew of burglaries at Spickard, MO, and that suspects had taken a handcar to Trenton. Jamesport Marshal George Caraway arrived on the scene to find one man in a box car. When the other two suspects showed up with food from town, the unarmed Caraway was shot in the back (he later recovered). At 11:47 a.m. an eastbound train came to the station as the three men escaped southward on foot.

Daviess County Sheriff John “Atch” Blair was serving papers in Jackson Township. About noon he was informed by telephone about the shooting and that three suspects were headed his way on foot from Jamesport. The suspects were followed by a growing posse led by former Sheriff Hutchison; a posse from Lock Springs was also on the move, heading north.

Sheriff Blair drove toward northeast Jackson Township and found both posses in a standoff during shooting from the outlaws. This was about three miles southeast of Jamesport. Blair also met a hail of bullets, two of which struck his buggy. He returned fire with a borrowed Winchester rifle, shooting Earl Chism as Chism was firing his gun while laying on the ground. Roy Chism then surrendered. The third man and the youngest, Harvey Chism, took off on his own and escaped from the county.

The crowd at the nearby farmhouse of Maurice Wood threatened to hang Roy Chism until the villain disclosed the gang's true identity. He led the posses to where he had left some loot and equipment. Their hidden grip held several small bottles of nitro, caps and long fuses. The grip also contained watches and jewelry taken from stores in Spickard, where they had blasted two safes open the previous Sunday night. Earl Chism was identified by witnesses as the criminal who shot Caraway. Roy Chism, 26, and Earl Chism, 22, had new Colt semi-automatic pistols and pockets full of cash and ammo.

Roy Chism was held in this Squirrel Cage Jail while Earl Chism was being medically attended. Harvey Chism was later arrested in Bloomington, IL. Two other Chism brothers posted $1000 bond for each (the burglars' father, Merrit Chism, was in prison at Joliet, IN, on murder charges). Roy skipped out on his bond but was re-arrested.

Earl Chism died on April 2, 1909. Roy Chism was charged with felonious assault with intent to kill in Daviess County, MO, on April 7, 1909. Two days later, Roy Chism was on his way to Leavenworth, KS, with a 5-year sentence.

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Robberies

CRIME STORIES

1896 — Lock Springs Bank On Dec. 11, 1896, someone attempted to blow open the safe in the Lock Springs Bank (there are not enough details to confirm whether that was a successful or merely an attempted burglary or robbery).

1929 — Pattonsburg Savings Bank At 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 18, 1929, two young men robbed the Savings Bank at Pattonsburg of about $8,000 in cash. They were pursued by many armed men and were captured by C.K. Connell and Gordon Sweany after ditching their car. A few shots were exchanged, but no one was hit. The money was recovered.

1931 — The Bank of Coffey

1931 – Hate Crime: Mob Murder at Maryville, MO Although this ugly crime actually did not happen in Daviess County, it is perhaps the most notorious crime ever to be committed in Northwest Missouri — and no one was jailed. It happened about 90 miles from Gallatin in Nodaway County. The following was published in the Jan. 15, 1931, edition of the Gallatin North Missourian, headlined “Negro Murderer Taken and Burned.”

At that time, a mob of nearly 4,000 people, both of spectators and of participants, had either watched or helped in the dragging of a negro man, Raymond Gunn, down the streets of Maryville, and towards a small country school house four miles away where he had assaulted and killed a white school teacher, Miss Velma Colter. He'd hidden in a ditch waiting for her to dismiss her class that day. When the children left the school grounds, he entered the school house where he did his harmful act.

Now, the mob was ready to do their "justice." Gunn was seized as he walked along with the sheriff and three of his

deputies on the way to the courthouse for him to plead guilty to the charge. The sheriff also suffered lacerations and bruises.

A few members of the crowd grabbed Gunn and clipped his ears with snippers.

Gunn then confessed to the killing, but indicated another negro known as "Shike" Smith also had a hand in it. Upon reaching the schoolhouse, shingles were torn from the roof leaving the rafters to serve as a ladder.

He was chained to the roof with heavy chains, gasoline from one of the cars was used to saturate the rafters, and a match lit.

As the flames quickly spread, the schoolhouse roof fell into the fire carrying Gunn's body with it. Gunn let out a loud screech and then silence.

A group of 50 national guardsmen had mobilized in the armory in case efforts were made to snatch the prisoner from the officers. They didn't leave the building because there hadn't been any request by the sheriff for them, which left them powerless to act.

In January, 1931, the Bank of Coffey was robbed. The two young male bandits entered the bank at about 1:30 p.m. on a Thursday and took over $800 in cash. Cashiers W.T. Siple and J.G. O'Hare were in the bank and W.A. Patridge entered the bank while the holdup was in progress. The robbers took money from the cashier drawers and some silver from the vault. Money in the big safe in the front window was apparently overlooked. The robbers put the three citizens in the vault, but failed to lock the door. The thieves evidently escaped to the north in a Ford sedan.

Still More Crime 1856 — County's First Stabbing Larkin Packwood, claiming he was robbed of hogs and cheated of corn at a grinding mill, stabbed John T. Dougherty to death during a brawl near the river mill. He was held in the old pit jail on the Gallatin square, tried on a change of venue to Caldwell County, and convicted of murder in the first degree. In January, 1858, this ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court in Jefferson City, finding that Packwood had acted in self-defense.

1982 — Kidnapping ...then Murder

These are only a few selected examples of crime stories which occurred during a century, beginning in the 1880s when the Squirrel Cage Jail in Gallatin was put to use

20 years for stealing $800?

In 1933, three days after a jury found Daryl Hillyard of Bethany guilty of robbing $800 from the Bank of Coffey, Judge Ira D. Beals sentenced Hillyard to 20 years in the state penitentiary. The acquittal of Hillyard of murder in Harrison County just months before explains this unusually harsh sentence.

The conviction on bank robbery was Hillyard's fourth trial in two years. He was accused of the murder of an elderly lady who lived near Bethany. This first trial at Bethany, as well as a second trial on a change of venue at Trenton, resulted in a hung jury. The third trial, at Bethany, was an acquittal. This caused much public consternation, including the ire of Judge A.G. Knight: "I am humiliated, to say the least," said Judge Knight from the bench. "...many school children attended this trial. The youth of this land are taught that it is all right to lend your car to a man who is going out to rob; that's all right. This was just a defenseless old woman murdered in cold blood."

"Administration of criminal law is behind the times," he said. "It needs revision. In these days of racketeering, kidnaping, of murder, of robbery, if the people do not rise to the importance of it, we may as well have anarchy. I am no moralist, but I hate to see justice miscarried. I hope I may never again in this county or in this district or in this state see or hear of anything like this."

©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company

Rosalyn Nelson, the 34-year-old mother of 9year-old Jennifer Barden who was abducted from her Gallatin home just months before (and later discovered dead in Oklahoma), was charged with murdering her husband in an Aug. 6 arson fire. Mrs. Nelson was sentenced to two years probation.

1982 — Double-murder Suicide A deranged George Page approached the Tom Bergman farm northwest of Gallatin with revenge in his heart for business dealings gone sour. He thought Bergman owed him $20,000 for his work prospecting for gold in Alaska during the summer of 1980. By the time the 30-year-old man put a gun to his mouth and killed himself, he had devastated three families and robbed 13 children of their mother or father. Killed were Kevin Bergman, 16, Carl Bergman, 12, and the mother of nine children, Mary Bergman. Also murdered was John Ed Ramsbottom, an electrician who happened to be working at the Bergman farmstead at the time.

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

7

— THE CIVIL WAR IN DAVIESS COUNTY, MISSOURI — Confederate Dead from Daviess County Compiled from records of Missouri's Confederate dead

Missouri 3rd Infantry: Confederate States of America Company E

1862 Bloody skirmish at

Cravensville

John McCabe, May 5, 1862, at Little Rock, Arkansas Daniel Faulkner, November 24, 1862, at Oxford, Mississippi Sgt. J.W.C. Blizzard, May 15, 1863, Baker's Creek, Mississippi Charles B. Doty, June 19, 1864, at Kennesaw Mtn., Georgia William M. Gillian, June 27, 1864, at Kennesaw Mtn., Georgia Joseph Rhodes, October, 1864, at Uniontown, Alabama

Daviess County was torn between the Confederacy and the Union. More men volunteered to serve the Union (roughly by a 3-to-1 ratio). And yet, the county was ruled by Union martial law, imposing military decisions which

impacted daily life here in various ways. The local Southern Baptist congregation, for instance, was not allowed to hold meetings except those supervised and held inside the courthouse and only after the minister

or leader took an oath of allegiance. Daviess Countians served in various capacities in the Western Theater

Company F

Sgt. William H. Coulson, Dec. 1, 1862, at Franklin, Tennessee George Vallandingham, Jan. 6, 1863, at Granada, Mississippi H.H. McDow, May 22, 1963, at Vicksburg, Mississippi Josiah R. Davis, June 1, 1863, at Granada, Mississippi James W. Lankford, May 5, 1864, at Lovejoy, Georgia Lt. Edward Davis, November 30, 1864, at Franklin, Tennessee Company B

James E. Woods, October 15, 1863, at Corinth, Mississippi

of the war, primarily fighting against (or some perpetrating) guerrilla warfare.

Missouri, in the southern and central parts, was overwhelmingly Confederate when the Civil War began. North of the Missouri River, sympathies were more divided. In Daviess County in April, 1862, the 1st Regiment of Union cavalry of the Missouri State Militia organized.

On Aug. 5, 1862, a company of about 35 Union troops from this unit planned to

Eight dead, 15 wounded in Daviess County’s only military clash

camp a mile northeast of Cravensville (10 to 12 houses and some 60 inhabitants in what is Jameson, MO, today). While en route to the camp site, the Union calvary soldiers met a rebel force commanded by Capt. Jesse Clark of Livingston County.

These rebels were moving south to support Gen. Sterling Price on order to march on Independence and Lexington. The rebels were gathering new recruits to join that effort as they journeyed south.

Union soldiers commanded by Capt. Aaron Vickers were armed with new rapid firing .52 caliber Sharp’s carbines. The Yankees watched as about 85 rebels prepared to cross the Grand River at the Larry Creek Ford south of Cravensville.

Then, when rebel pickets discovered the Union forces, unarmed rebels fled on horseback through Cravensville. About 25 armed rebels formed a quick defense

along the south road just outside of town and fired upon the Union force coming up from the river. Gunfire was exchanged for nearly 90 minutes. But the Confederates were not properly armed, trained or supplied.

Eventually the few remaining able rebels fled to the north as darkness covered the countryside.

Union soldiers captured 15 horses, 10 guns, and 16 dead or wounded rebels. Five Yankees received wounds, mostly upon the opening blast from the Confederates. Later three more rebels were captured in the search that continued through Aug. 7th. Two rebels – Thomas Hicklin and Daniel Hole – were found to be previously paroled and were shot by firing squad by orders of the Union Command.

Capt. Clark and the other rebel leaders escaping the skirmish at Cravensville participated in a battle near the Missouri River which took place Aug. 11-17. For the most part, that effort was a rebel victory.

1864

About a week before the big cavalry battle at Westport, 141 men from Daviess County each Rebels nab Daviess Countians at the received a $100 bounty by signing up to serve in Company F of the 43rd Regiment of the Union Army.

In early October, 1864, the regiment was ordered to reinforce the garrison at Jefferson City.

At dawn on Oct. 15, 1864, Gen. Jo Shelby commenced the attack on Glasgow with one piece of artillery firing from the west bank of the Missouri River. Then Shelby opened a hot fire from six pieces of artillery stationed on the east bank of the river on hills south of Glasgow. The artillery first was directed on the steamer Western Wind, lying at the wharf. It was disabled and abandoned by the Union regiment.

Then Shelby turned his big guns on Glasgow City Hall, used as a commissary depot. The city hall was set on fire. A northeast wind spread the fire to over a dozen houses which were entirely destroyed.

The Confederates completely surrounded Glasgow and had one strong position in the Dunnica House. The house was filled with rebel sharpshooters firing from 10 openings that fronted on the rifle pits.

The Union, with over 30 men killed or wounded, surrendered and were disarmed and escorted to Boonville. The Confederates had about an equal number killed or wounded. There were no men from Daviess County killed. The officers and soldiers of Company F were exchanged and were in active duty in the Central Missouri District until the close of war in April, 1865. The 43rd Regiment was taken by boat to St. Louis and re-outfitted. They returned to Westport but not in time to assist in the battle.

1864

Battle of Glasgow

Company A

Company G

1st Regiment of Cavalry, Missouri State Militia

1st Regiment of Cavalry, Missouri State Militia

Mustered into Union service Feb. 3, 1862, at Gallatin, commanded by Capt.

Joseph H. McGee of Gallatin, First Lt. Merdith Morris of Pattonsburg, and Second Lt. McClain Wilson of Monroe Township. The company’s first action was fought at Kirksville on Aug. 6, 1862. Two days later it fought Confederates at Panther Creek in Macon County and then again in short engagements at Walnut Creek and at Seaford the next day. During another battle on Aug. 13, 1862, Company A suffered several wounded, among whom were Pvt. William R. Dutcher and 2nd Sgt. David E. Youtsey, both of Gallatin.

Company B

Organized under Capt. John Ballinger on March 27, 1862. The original roll of the company could not be found, but a list of those mustered out was preserved by Lt. David Groomer showing those who survived as well as those who died from exposure, disease or were killed in battle. The first casualty is bugler Lewis Jacob killed Aug. 9, 1862, at Panther Creek, MO. Other dead are John James on May 12, 1862, Pitman A. Clevinger on April 5, 1862, and Peter Place on May 6, 1862, all at Gallatin; Benona H. Gillihan on July 14, 1862, and George W. Fitts on Aug. 19, 1862, both at Chillicothe; Patrick M. Orr on Nov. 8, 1864, at Jefferson City; and William J. Pennington, on Nov. 21, 1864, at Warrensburg.

Company F

1st Regiment, Missouri State Militia The original muster roll of Company B cannot be found. As far as can be ascertained, these volunteers served under Capt. Wm. Folmsbee who was commissioned on Feb. 3, 1862. The names of 88 volunteers, one noncommissioned officer and five commissioned officers apparently comprised this company.

8

of the 43rd Missouri Vol. Infantry Over 100 Union volunteers from Daviess County served in the 43rd Missouri Vol. Infantry, Company F from Sept. 8, 1864, to June 30, 1865, according to records kept at the Daviess County Courthouse. All but 55 of these volunteers can be properly identified.

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

Daviess Countians at the

Battle of Westport

The Battle of Westport was reported as the most extensive cavalry action in Missouri during the Civil War, involving five cavalry divisions. It was the last major battle not only of Missouri but also the area west of the Mississippi River. In 1864, the southern forces under Gen. Sterling Price were three Cavalry Divisions of about 4,000 men each, led by Gen. J.F. Fagan, Gen. J.S. Marmaduke and Gen. J.O. Shelby and a few unattached units from Arkansas such as Capt. Anderson's battalion.

Most Daviess Countians were Union men in Union Gen. Alfred Pleasonton's four brigades under Gen. Rosecrans. The 1st MSM Regiment of Daviess County was in Pleasonton's 1st Brigade, commanded by Col. Philips. Fourteen Daviess County men were in Gen. Sanborn's 3rd Brigade, part of the 6th MSM Cavalry Regiment (other Daviess County men in the 33rd and 43rd Missouri Vol. Infantry were north of the Missouri River and were not involved at Westport).

Since organizing in April, 1862, the 1st Cavalry Regiment had enrolled 467 Daviess County men in service. This regiment helped chase Gen. Marmaduke out of Independence on Oct. 22, 1864, after darkness. McFerran pushed the rebels to about two miles west of Independence where the 4th Brigade took over, pushing Gen. Marmaduke's Division to within three miles of Byram's Ford.

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A Legend You Should Know...

Samuel P. Cox The adventures of Major S.P. Cox (1828-1913) read like a history of our nation including the westward movement, the Mexican War, the West's early Indian wars, the California gold rush, the Civil War, and the exploits of the notorious outlaws Frank & Jesse James.

Samuel Cox was born on Dec. 16, 1828, at Williamsburg in Whitley County, KY. He moved to Daviess County, MO, in 1839 with his father, Franklin Cox. The family settled in the southeastern part of the county near the old Ames Saw Mill and Trosper Lake.

In 1862 Major Cox served the county as recorder and circuit clerk. In 1874 he was collector for Union Twp. Cox on 2 Mules, Avoiding Sioux Indians...

1200 miles in 30 days

Cox Forms His Own Battalion

To Preserve the Union Chief Red Cloud of the Oglala Sioux

Cox Among the Oregon, Mormon & Sante Fe CASPER

Trailblazers

FT. LARAMIE

NAUVOO

MORM

ON TR

FT. BRIDGER Cox at the

California Gold Rush

AIL

Cox worked as a Teamster for

FT. KEARNEY OLD FRANKLIN

INDEPENDENCE

SALT LAKE CITY Russell, Majors & Waddell

IL

TA FE

FT. BENT

FT. UNION

SANTA FE

TRA

SAN

FT. LARNED DODGE CITY

James Gang Outlaw Clelland Miller Saves Cox’s Life

Cox Declared Hero for Killing

‘Bloody Bill’

Anderson

Cox, by Mistaken Identity,

Cox and his Family

Shipwrecked

Escapes Revenge from Jesse James After the War, Cox Partners With a Future

Business Tycoon

Trailblazing the West...

Enlisting in the U.S. Army at age 19, Cox was among the Missouri volunteers ordered to help develop the Oregon Trail and Mormon Trail and to protect the Santa Fe Trail. In 1848 he helped complete Fort Kearney, located on the south side of the Platte River in what later became Nebraska.

From Teamster to Shipwreck Survivor...

Cox settled in Gallatin, MO, in 1850, married and worked four years in the mercantile business. Then, with oxen and cattle, he moved his family to Oroville, CA, to work as a teamster for gold diggers. The family prospered but yearned to return to Missouri. So, they sold out and went to San Francisco where they were attracted to a steam ship voyage, a route with Baltimore as a destination by way of Nicaraugua. The family survived a shipwreck near Key West, FL. A Ride of National Renown...

In 1859 Cox drew national newspaper publicity for an extraordinary feat. While delivering Army disJesse James swore he would avenge the death patches, Cox covered over 1200 miles in 30 days by of Wm. “Bloody Bill” Anderson whenever mule! His trek from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Nebraska he next saw Samuel P. Cox. Thus, City, NE, included one leg of 125 miles without a stop during the 1869 robbery of the to avoid hostile Sioux warriors led by Red Cloud.

Daviess County Savings Cox’s feat compares favorably against horseback rides Association, John W. Sheets was an unfortunate victim of cirin relay — a lone rider without companions or support, cumstance when Jesse James other than two good mules.

Mistaken Identity...

mistook him for Samuel Cox. A horse used during the robbery and murder linked Jesse James to the crime. The Governor of Missouri soon offered a bounty for the capture Capt. John Sheets of the outlaw. This was the first time Jesse James was publicly wanted by the law, the start of a 12-year crime spree.

Union Officer Fighting Guerrilla Rebels...

Cox was among the first to publicly declare for the Union soon after the start of the Civil War in 1861. He promptly recruited and commanded “Cox’s Battalion.”

He fought guerrillas at Kirksville (in Adair County), Lee’s Ford (in Chariton County), and Union Mills (located in Platte County).

A Protective Hero...

Union Major Samuel P. Cox gained widespread fame when he was credited with the killing of William “Bloody Bill” Anderson on Oct. 27, 1864, near Richmond, MO. The City of St. Joseph presented Cox with a ceremonial sword for killing the notorious guerrilla chief (accused of killing 54 Union men). But few knew Major Cox was actually protecting a bugler under his command, Adolph Vogel, who in all probability pulled the trigger that sent Bloody Bill to his death.

Vogel was a young family man, mindful of revenge sworn by Jesse James and other guerrillas Adolph Vogel against whomever killed their leader.

So, as commanding officer, Major Cox assumed that personal risk for years after the Civil War ...a risk that became bloody reality when the James brothers later robbed the savings association in Gallatin in 1869. Ironically, a James Gang member, Clelland Miller, was a friend to Cox and actually saved the Major’s life during the war.

Successful Businessman...

If Cox wasn’t particularly interested in business, he certainly knew how to pick business partners. Local records show a mercantile business at the southeast corner of the Gallatin square called Ballinger, Cox & Kemper.

It operated a little more than a year, long enough for the birth of William T. Kemper. The Kemper family fortune became one of Kansas City’s largest.

The family controls one of Missouri’s largest financial institutions, United Missouri Bank of Kansas City, and the Kemper name is lavished on Kansas City’s civic arena. By the way, the real estate for the business in Gallatin was purchased by the three partners for $1,500. Evidently, business was good. Partner John Ballinger later purchased Kemper’s interest for $1,250. ©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company

Major Samuel P. Cox died on Aug. 21, 1913, a man who lived history in legendary fashion.

He is buried at Brown Cemetery, on the north side of Gallatin. ©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

9

A Trail of Terror To understand why rotary jails were built during such a

– this time deliberately (although later understood to be a

brief period in our nation’s history, you first must understand

case of mistaken identity). Not only was Jesse James

the lawlessness of those times.

suspected in the shooting for sworn revenge but his horse

After the Civil War, most former guerrillas returned to

provided physical proof of his involvement. Jesse James

their farms and pursued peaceful means. But for men like

continued to express his innocence, but with the proof in

Frank & Jesse James and for Cole and Jim Younger, however,

horseflesh the Governor of Missouri announced a bounty for

the transition back to normal life proved difficult. They

the apprehension of Jesse James.

dabbled in honest work, but preferred the outlaw lifestyle and

For the first time, Jesse James was a wanted man.

its lure of excitement, revenge, and easy money.

Thus began a 12-year crime spree, notorious exploits

On Feb. 13, 1866, the first daylight peacetime bank

exaggerated into myth and legend attracting international

robbery in the country occurred at the Clay County Savings

interest. Lawlessness was scaring away Eastern investors at

Association at Liberty. Jesse James denied being among the

a time when railroad development was crucial. Somehow

10 to 12 unidentified armed men who stole over $60,000 and

public authorities needed to make a statement to express

killed one bystander during the incident. But authorities think

determined resolve that lawfulness would prevail.

otherwise.

The construction of rotary jails like the one built in

Three years later on Dec. 7, 1869, two men rode into

Gallatin, MO — despite the obvious fire hazard and constant

Gallatin to rob the Daviess County Savings Association. Like

maintenance and operation issues — was a part of that

the previous daylight robbery, one person was shot and killed

response.

Jesse James murdered on April 3, 1882, in St. Joseph, MO; Frank James surrenders to Missouri Governor Crittenden on Oct. 5, 1882 Sept. 7, 1876 — Northfield, MN failed attempt to rob the First National Bank of Northfield; cashier Heyman killed, gang members Charley Pits & Bill Chadwell killed; Cole, Jim and Bob Younger wounded and later captured

Adair, Iowa — $3,000 in a train robbery; engineer killed when engine overturned

June 3, 1871 — Corydon, Iowa $6,000 from Ocobock Brothers Bank

Jesse and Frank James, c. 1872

July 15, 1881 — Winston, MO. $2,000 from a Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific train, killing conductor William Westfall and Frank McMillan March 2, 1867 — Savannah, MO failed robbery at Judge John McClain Banking House (Jesse James accused) Feb. 13, 1866 — Liberty, MO. $60,000 by 10-12 unidentified men (probably Jesse James). 17-Year-old boy killed.

Dec. 7, 1869 — Gallatin, MO. $700 at the Daviess Co. Savings Assn.; John Sheets killed.

Governor cites James Boys as ‘Wanted Outlaws’

Frank & Jesse James were never held in a rotary jail, but the lawlessness during their times prompted some communities to choose the most secure and practical jail design then available Sept. 7, 1881 — Glendale, MO $3,000+ off Blue Cut train ...a rotary jail.

May 22, 1867 — Richmond, MO $4,000 from Hughes & Wasson Bank 3 men shot and killed Oct. 30, 1866 Lexington, MO. $2,000 bank robbery

Sept. 26, 1872 — Kansas City, MO $8,000 stolen at the Kansas City Exposition Ticket Office; one girl shot

Dec. 8, 1874 — Muncie, KS $55,000 stolen in a train robbery

Oct. 8, 1879 — Glendale, MO $40,000 off Chicago, Alton & St. Louis RR

Sept. 5, 1875 — Huntington, WV $10,000+ stolen during robbery of the Huntington Bank; 1 gang member shot

July 7, 1876 — Otterville, MO (Rockey Cut) $15,000 off Missouri-Pacific train May 27, 1873 — Ste. Genevieve, MO $4,000 at Ste. Genevieve Bank Jan. 31, 1874 — Gads Hill, MO $12,000 off the St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad

March 20, 1868 — Russellville, KY $14,000 at Nimrod Long Banking Co. (probably including Jesse James)

April 29, 1872 — Columbia, KY $6,000 in Bank of Columbia robbery; Cashier R.A.C. Martin killed

Sept. 3, 1880 — Mammoth Cave, KY $1,800 stagecoach robbery

April, 1874 — Austin, TX $3,000 stagecoach robbery

Jan. 15, 1874 — Hot Springs, AR $3,000 stagecoach robbery

Daviess County, MO:

March 11, 1881 — Muscle Shoals, AL $5,200 off a paymaster leaving bank

And the legend lives on...

Where It Began in 1869... with and Ended the 1883 Trial of Frank James

10

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

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Frank & Jesse James were murderous thugs who became experts in molding public opinion through newspapers.

Common folks of those times emphathized with the James Boys and against wealthy bankers and the railroads.

But eventually millions of readers all over the world came to think they knew the James brothers through scores of fictionalizing dime-novel writers and perhaps less than a half dozen credible biographies.

Hollywood’s Jesse James Movies greatly embellish the exploits attributed to the James Boys Truth was seldom a consideration for Hollywood. The first motion picture about Jesse James was produced in 1920 with members of the James family and several Kansas City businessmen as stockholders. The premier showing of Under the Black Flag took place at Plattsburg, MO. Several other movies followed, all distorting facts and actual events. Most noteworthy are:

Jesse James – Paramount Pictures, 1927 starring Fred Thomas and his famous horse, Silver King

Jesse James – Twentieth Century-Fox, 1939 an elaborate “Robin Hood” story starring Tyrone Powers as Jesse James and Henry Fonda as Frank James

The Return of Frank James – Twentieth Century-Fox an almost entirely fictitious sequel to the previous box office success continuing the “Robin Hood” tradition

Jesse James’ Women – United Artists, 1954 an unusual portrayal of Jesse James as a most unsavory character despite giving money away to the worthy

The True Story of Jesse James – Twentieth Century-Fox, 1957 a highly publicized release with its distorted story set forth in a Dell Movie Classic comic book

Comic book versions of the James Brothers played even more loosely with the truth as you might expect. Ballads written soon after the demise of the James Boys appear in many folk songs. Many versions sprung from the common refrain... “That dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard, Has laid poor Jesse in his grave.”

Gallatin, MO, was the boyhood home to another Old

“Jesse James is the only American bandit who is classical, who is to this country what Robin Hood or Dick Turpin is to England, whose exploits are so close to the mythical and apocryphal.”

— Carl Sandburg American poet, biographer, journalist and editor

West outlaw made famous by Hollywood: Johnny Ringo. The family moved from Indiana in 1857, relocating to Gallatin where they lived for seven years before moving on to California. Johnny Ringo was in Burnet, TX, where he got involved in gunplay and ambushes resulting in the death of Jim Chaney at Mason County, TX. Ringo was jailed and awaited prosecution for three years. Records next show Ringo in Arizona in 1879, shooting and wounding Lewis Hancock. No doubt his most infamous excapade followed the famous shootout at the OK Corral at Tombstone, AZ. Johnny Ringo was on the side of the Clantons. He was a member of Sheriff Behan's posse Johnny Ringo and helped drive Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday and their comMay 3, 1850 - July 13, 1882 panions out of Arizona in March, 1882.

B-Westerns also... made celebrities of other people from Daviess County besides the James Brothers and Johnny Ringo. Unlike these infamous outlaws, however, these actors had no links to authentic history of the Old West. They were performers specializing in a genre that faded with the advent of television.

“Wild Bill Elliott” born Gordon A. Nance on Oct. 16, 1904, at Pattonsburg, Mo. Most B-western historians today consider Wild Bill Elliott (born at Pattonsburg, MO) the successor to the realistic westerns of his hero, silent star William S. Hart, who retired in 1925, the same year, ironically, that Elliott made his first picture. On the silver screen Elliott was Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp, Red Ryder, Kit Carson, Davy Crockett's son, Daniel Boone's grandson, and, of course most often -- himself. He worked with such celebrated actors as Clark Gable, John Wayne, Tex Ritter, and Gene Autry. He starred on a western variety radio series with the Andrews Sisters and Gabby Hayes. Wild Bill Elliott was on the Motion Picture Herald-Fame’s poll of Top Western Stars each year during the 1940s. His last movie was released in 1957. He died Nov. 26, 1965.

“Buzz Barton” born on September 3, 1913, at Gallatin, Missouri William Andrew Lamoreaux became known as “The Boy Wonder of Westerns” after his family moved from Gallatin to California. At one time Lamoreaux was probably the most successful and well-known of the young, silent screen cowpokes starring in Westerns. His popularity in 1930-31 was so strong that the Daisy Company introduced the “Buzz Barton Special Daisy Air Rifle” (complete with telescope sight) to tie in with his movie releases. But his career floundered as he reached puberty and as the new medium of sound put an end to silent films. He died in 1980.

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HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

11

MURDER! THEFT!

Dec. 7,1869 — Gunmen Rob, Murder at Gallatin Bank POSSE CHASES GUNMEN Capt. John Sheets Gunned Down In Cold Blood; Posse In Pursuit Southwest Toward Cameron McDOWELL ESCAPES WITHOUT INJURY

Residents of this small town were shocked to witness the re-enactment of one of the most hideous crimes ever to occur in Daviess County during the 2019 Gallatin Chau tauqua.

About noon two men arrived at the small brick building commonly referred to as the bank. Nothing seemed unusu al as the men dismounted, ap parently intent on doing busi ness as commonly occurred at the bank every work day.

Capt. John Sheets and William McDowell were inside, attending to duties as cashier.

The first man asked Sheets if he could change a $100 bill.

As Capt. Sheets got up to go to the safe in the back room, the man followed.

The second man kept William McDowell busy by asking him for pen and paper in his request for a receipt. His attention diverted, McDowell heard a gunshot and turned to see Capt. Sheets laying dead on the floor.

The second gunman now stood between McDowell and the street. McDowell made a lunge for the gun but stum bled -- a misstep which probably saved his life as a shot went wildly over his head.

McDowell scrambled to his feet, dodging more bul lets from the gunmen who, by then, seemed intent to create bedlam to chase away any onlookers who might hinder their getaway.

Capt. John Sheets

DECEASED A POPULAR AND RESPECTED CITIZEN

John W. Sheets was born into a family which was among the early settlers of Daviess County. By 1850, county re cords and the U.S. Census show Sheets as a father of two children before his wife died.

Sheets later remarried.

Sheets served as sheriff of Daviess County for two terms, circuit clerk for six years, county recorder for four years, and also as county commis sioner. He was an honorable and civic-minded man, held in high esteem by the citizens of Daviess County and the town of Gallatin.

His war record shows that he was a volunteer in the war between the United States and Mexico in 1846. He earned the rank of captain -- a title that stayed with him the rest of his life. Capt. Sheets fought alongside Union Major Samuel Cox and was one of the troops led by Cox when “Bloody Bill” Anderson and several of his men were killed in a Union ambush near Orrick. The ambush was a small part of various engagements involved in the Battle of Westport. The death of “Bloody Bill” Anderson, however, was a significant feat since “Bloody Bill” is still considered as one of the dead liest and most brutal Confederate guerrilla leaders of the Civil War. Jesse James, who rode with the guerrillas, was outraged by the death of “Bloody Bill.” He swore revenge and rode into Gallatin that foggy Tuesday morning intending to kill the man who led that Union ambush, Major Samuel Cox. As was his daily custom, Capt. Sheets greeted many as he completed the 10-minute walk from his home to the little bank. Court was to be in session that day with several dockets to be heard.

During the morning he shared coffee with two Gallatin attorneys, W.C. Gillihan and William McDowell, at a hotel before finally arriving at the bank about 11:30 a.m.

12

Several Gallatin citizens courageously confronted the gunmen despite the growing confusion and turmoil. Some approached even as the gunmen tried to mount their horses. One of their horses bolted away during the melee, prompting the dastardly duo to ride double as they fled with all haste out of town, south west toward Cameron.

Daviess County Sheriff Wm. Flint promptly directed two men to retrieve the rid erless horse, knowing that chances were good to identify the bandits by the horseflesh they used.

Then Sheriff Flint gathered the rest of those assembled, forming a posse in earnest pursuit. Just a few miles outside of Gallatin the posse came upon local farmer Daniel Smoote who shouted out his encounter with the bandits as he headed towards town, leading the horse one of the bandits called Kate.

Smoote urged the posse to continue pursuit, in hopes of securing his horse which the bandits took away in a forced exchange. So, the posse -re sumed the pursuit. Eventu ally, however, and despite good intentions, the posse chase

fizzled as the miles and miles of chase increased.

Two from the Gallatin posse later joined with Clay County Sheriff and others to confront the suspects, Frank & Jesse James, at the James farm located east of Kearney, MO. Some 20 or 30 shots were fired during that confront-a tion without much effect, except for the killing of the Clay County Sheriff ’s horse.

To the chagrin of good citizens throughout Daviess County and everywhere, the men who so brazenly com mitted murder and robbery escaped apprehension.

GOVERNOR ENRAGED! $3,000 Reward

Word of the outrageous murder and robbery has Missouri Govenor T.T. Crittenden issuing a bounty for the capture of suspects Frank & Jesse James. This marks the first time authorities have publicly branded these two ex-Confed erates as wanted outlaws.

Mrs. Sheets, the wife of the murdered bank cashier, has offered a reward of $500. Daviess County added $250 for each outlaw, the bank another $500, and the State of Mis souri $500 — all a part of the $3,000 total reward offered.

Gov. Crittenden is acting promptly in the wake of this crime, saying steps must be taken to assure the confidence of Eastern bankers and railroad investors to develop this state to its potential.

Lawlessness is condemned for the loss in life as well as for the threatened loss in Missouri’s economic development.

SISTER OFFERS ALIBI

This is an artist’s concept of the 1869 shooting of Capt. John Sheets of Gallatin, allegedly by Frank and Jesse James. [courtesy Missouri State Historical Society]

DETAILED ACCOUNT

BY AN EYE-WITNESS

In October, 1942, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat pub lished an eye-witness account of the 1869 robbery of the Daviess County Savings -As sociation by Frank and Jesse James. Edward Clingan, 89, of Gallatin was identified as the only living witness to the robbery, which at the time of publication occurred 73 years prior. This newspaper account claimed that Mr. Clingan recounted the adventure “as clearly and as accurately as though it had happened yesterday.”

When his class was - dis missed at noon that day, Dec. 7, 1869, Clingan, then a 16-year-old schoolboy, hurried to the post office for the family mail. As he stood in the post office he heard several shots. Thinking that the shots were first by a celebrator who had been drinking too much corn whisky, Clingan ran from the post office to see who was creating the disturbance.

On gaining the street, Clingan saw William A. McDowell, a bank clerk, stumble through the doorway of the bank, which was located directly across the street from the post office on the southwest corner of the town square. McDowell fell, picked himself up and ran toward the post office. A bandit, who later proved to be one of the James boys, appeared in the doorway and fired several shots in the direction of McDowell. None of the bullets struck him.

“Capt. Sheets has been killed,” McDowell shouted several times as he reached safety on Clingan’s side of the street.

The bandit fled from the bank entrance and Clingan ran across the street to the bank. In the rear room of the 2-room brick building he found his brother-in-law, Capt. John W. Sheets, head of the bank, lying on the floor.

Another bystander arrived on the scene about the same time as Clingan. Together they propped up the banker.

“Are you hurt, Captain Sheets?” Clingan asked.

Sheets never answered; he had been killed instantly

Blacksmith Eye-Witness

Samuel McDonald was in position to witness everything that occurred on that fate ful morning of Tuesday, Dec. 7, 1869. Mr. McDonald stood across the street north of the Daviess County Savings Assn. when two men appeared about noon, hitching their horses just outside the bank.

In the aftermath of the crime, accurate details would be confirmed, thus assuring accuracy in the re-enactment presented during the 2019 Gallatin Chautauqua.

when one of the bandits had shot him twice at close range.

One bullet entered his head near the bridge of his nose and the other lodged in his heart.

Seeing there was nothing he could do for Sheets, Clingan rejoined the crowd that had gathered in the street.

The outlaws, who had been identified by the crowd as Jesse and Frank James, were attempting to escape on their horses which they had left in an alley half a block south of the bank. Several of the more daring men entered the alley cautiously. They found that one of the bandits was not in sight and had obviously escaped, but the other had been thrown to the ground when his wrist had become entangled in his horse’s reins.

His horse had freed itself and had run away.

As the crowd approached, someone shouted, “Let’s get him.” The bandit drew his gun and pointed it menac ingly. Clingan said that the crowd took to its heels almost at once and he thought it was wise to leave hurriedly, too.

He ran to a drug store owned

by Chris Gilliland, which had a rear door opening into the alley where the outlaws had been encountered. E. Barnum, a silversmith, arrived at the store about the same time as Clingan, and he borrowed the druggist’s gun and quietly opened the door leading ito the alley.

They were just in time to see Frank and Jesse mount the horse of the man who had fled, but later returned to see what had happened to his accomplice. The silversmith fired one ineffectual shot from the alley doorway, but hastily closed the door when a bullet smacked into the wall beside it.

Laying down a barrage of revolver shots, the brothers rode out of town. A posse quickly organized, rode after them, but took the wrong fork in a crossroad near Gallatin and never saw the outlaws again.

Clingan, eager not to miss any of the excitement, com mandeered a small mustardcolored mustang and joined the search. Accompanying him was a burly stranger.

Clingan had never seen the man before and thought his actions and appearance suspicious.

Deciding that the man might be connected in some way with the robbery, Clingan deemed it best to report his suspicions to the posse. Making an excuse for his departure, he left the stranger and went in search of the posse.

He met the unsuccessful posse on its way back to Gallatin and reported his suspicions.

A search was made but the stranger was never seen again.

Clingan believes that he was a spy stationed by the James boys to report any progress being made in the manhunt.

ONLY $100 STOLEN Bay Mare Worth More Than Stolen Money

In the immediate aftermath of the bank robbery, some said three gunmen were actually involved: Frank and Jesse James and Jim Anderson. But there is no dispute on the amount of money stolen during the brazen daytime crime. Only $100 in cash was confirmed stolen. Thus, the fine bay mare the gunmen left behind was worth more than the money stolen from the Gallatin bank.

The mare was taken by Daniel Smoot, who was forced to give up the horse he was riding from town to his home southwest of Gallatin.

Pvt. Adolph Vogel

Modern Footnote…

Major Samuel P. Cox -ac cepted the celebrity of killing Bloody Bill to protect a bugler under his command, Adolph Vogel. Papers taken from the dead body of Bloody Bill Anderson reposed in Mr. Vogel’s safety deposit box at a Coffey bank; and the flashy hat which Anderson wore when he was killed was given by Vogel to a sister, who lived In Daviess County.

Vogel acknowledged his role in 1924 when a man at Brownwood, TX, made public claims of being Bill Anderson. His claim proved false not only by Vogel’s discourses, but also by the fact that the real Bill Anderson would have been much older than the Texas man.

Mr. Vogel would not say he was the man who actually killed Anderson in battle, but made this statement: “It is likely that I was the man who killed him, but you can’t be sure about such things when they happen in a fight of that kind.”

His story of the affair is as follows:

Horse Sold To Another Miss Susie James, a sister of the accused, swears that her brother Jesse and herself attended preaching in Greenville, Clay County, on Sunday, December 5th, and after their return Jesse sold her bay mare Kate (the one left by the murderer at Gallatin) to a stranger who said he was from Topeka, Kansas. Furthermore, Miss James is willing to testify that her brother was at home on December 7th.

Miss James’ comments were published and widely circulated by a Kansas City newspaper.

Zerelda Samuel, mother of the accused, swears that her son Jesse was at home -De cember 6th, 7th, and 8th, and that he sold his sister’s mare to a man from Topeka, Kansas, for five $100 bills on Sunday, the 5th.

Reuben Samuel, step-fa ther of the accused, testifies to the same thing [reprinted from the 1882 History of Daviess County, page 502].

“It happened south of Rich mond, Mo., in some heavily timbered bottom land. I was in the Missouri militia, and we were hunting a force of men who were said to be com manded by Anderson. I was under Major Cox of Gallatin.

“We found out that the oth er fel1ows were near. We got off our horses and left them behind our lines. You know the guerrillas had always attacked the militia when they were on horses and because the horses were not used to gunfire they would stampede.

Their riders would be routed.

I suspect that is what would have happened to us if we had not known the fight was about to happen. There were not more than a few hundred men on a side.

“The fight didn’t last very long. As I was a bugler, I was the only other man in our bat talion, besides Major Cox, who was horseback. We were -at tacked, but, kept our ground, and in a little bit the other fe1lows were running, routed.

“I saw the body of a man in front at me who looked like he was an officer. He was dressed well, and in his big wide brimmed hat there was a long feather.

“I told Major Cox about him, and he ordered me to take everything off him. We took his pistols, his hat and papers he had on him that told who he was. The hat was just what I wanted and I took it.”

This account was reported by the Gallatin Democrat in 1927 after Vogel died of heart disease at his home located north of Jameson, MO. Vogel’s story was further substanti ated by a man from Bethany, MO, whose family once lived near the scene of the -am bush near Richmond. That man said he knew the guerrilla chieftain by sight, saw him the evening before he was killed by Union soldiers in an ambush, and knew how Anderson was dressed. Thus, Vogel is most likely to have killed Anderson.

FARMER DANIEL SMOOTE FORCED TO SURRENDER HORSE Exhausted Bay Mare Linked To Jesse James of Kearney, Missouri

Major Samuel P. Cox

MISTAKEN IDENTITY Civil War Vow To Avenge Bloody Bill Anderson Takes An Innocent Life

It is widely circulated how Confederate guerrilla fighter Jesse James vowed to avenge the death of his friend, Wm. “Bloody Bill” Anderson who was gunned down during an ambush near Richmond, MO. James let it be known that he intended to shoot down Major Samuel Cox on sight. Cox was in charge of the Union detachment which killed Bloody Bill, one of the most savage guerrilla fighters during the war, the architect of the Centralia Massacre.

Now that the horse left behind by the gunmen is linked to Jesse James, it is now be lieved that the James Boys targeted Gallatin not only for bank money but to seek out Major Cox for that venge ful purpose. James knew the chances to confront Major Cox were good.

Since the Civil War, Cox was in the mercantile business in the firm of Ballinger, Cox & Kemper. This business operated from the building across the street to the east of the Daviess County Savings Assn.

Jesse James made good on his boast, shooting Capt.

John Sheets while thinking he was killing Major Cox. The mistake is understandable since both Sheets and Cox were among those Union men in uniform who terminated Bloody Bill in ambush.

Major Cox was getting his hair cut in Wm. Irwin’s barber shop on the east side of the square when gunshots at the bank marred an otherwise peaceful day. True to his character, Cox was among the first to respond to the danger on the scene. Major Cox quickly procured his horse and was among those led by Sheriff Wm. Flint as a posse in pursuit.

Cox is widely respected and well-known to law abiding citizens throughout North west Missouri. The personal threat and now challenge to arrest Frank and Jesse James is but the latest which Major Cox no doubt will add to his list of accomplishments.

Even before his service to our country during the Civil War, Cox enlisted in the U.S. Army’s “Oregon Battalion” to help develop the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail and protect the Santa Fe Trail from warring Sioux Indians.

He experienced the California Gold Rush, and survived shipwreck near Key West, FL. Cox became wagon master for one of the largest freight companies in the country, Russell, Majors & Waddell. He gained national notoriety rid ing two mules through hostile Sioux territory to deliver dispatch from Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston from St. Lake City.

Certainly, Major Cox is no stranger to danger and is in no way cowarded by the threats Jesse James may pose.

Daviess County farmer Daniel Smoote happened along in the wrong place at the wrong time. On that chilly, cloudy morning of Dec. 7, 1869, Smoote was riding his favorite horse away from Gallatin toward his home southwest of town. Along the way he was confronted by two armed men riding double on an obviously weary mount.

The men demanded Smoote to exchange horses, despite Smoote’s objections.

On the day following the robbery, Alec Irving and Jess Donohue, both of Gallatin, returning home from a trip, passed through Kearney, MO. Near Kearney they saw Jesse and Frank James. One of them was mounted on Smoote’s horse.

A few days later Smoote received a letter from the desperadoes informing him that he was welcome to keep the fine Kentucky mare they had lost during the robbery in exchange for the horse they had taken from him. But Smoote wanted his own horse back, Smoote contacted a young Gallatin attorney, H.C. Mc Dougal, and made plans to sue the James Boys at the Daviess County courthouse for $223.50 in total damages ($150 for the bay horse with four white feet and a white on its nose). As the attorney representing Smoote, H.C. McDougal later sought damages in writing the following: “Plaintiff states that on the 7th day of December, 1869, at or near the City of Gallatin, in the county of Daviess and State of Missouri, the defendants Jesse James and Frank James did feloniously steal, take and carry away from this plaintiff, and in his presence and against his will by pull ing him, the said plaintiff in fear of some immediate injury to his person, the fol lowing personal property to wit: one bay horse, with four white-feet and white stripe on the nose, of the value of $150; one saddle of the value of $15; one bridle of the value of $2; and one halter of the value of $1.50. The property of this plaintiff, by which the plaintiff says he is damaged in the sum of two hundred and twenty three and 50/100 dollars, for which he asks judgement. In addition, interest and costs of the lawsuit were to be added to the value of Smoote’s personal property.

Detailing Smoote’s Law suit… petition presented

by Attorney H.C. McDougal on Smoot’s behalf, seeking $223.50 in damages; March 8, 1870 — Writ of Attachment issued to the Clay County Sheriff, to apply $223.50 against the holdings and possessions of the James brothers March 11, 1870 — Clay County Deputy Sheriff J.B. Thomson writes that a copy of the petition was left with a member of the (James) family where Jesse and Frank James usually reside July 12, 1870 — Daviess County Common Pleas Court acknowledges that “defendants Jesse James and Frank James have absconded or absented themselves from their usual place of abode in this State, so that the ordinary process of law cannot be served upon them.”

SHOTS HEARD Gallatin Businessman R.R. Wynne’s Account

“In 1866 the Wynne family bought and moved into a home located where the Democrat office now stands and in the front yard of which he heard the shot that killed Capt. Sheets in the robbery of the Sheets bank in 1869. At that time the population of the town was about 300, and there was not a graded street nor sidewalk in the town except in front of the few business houses. There were no railroads here then, and all merchandise was brought in by a stage line running from Hamilton to Gallatin.

“Outside the courthouse and jail, both of which were in the square, there were only two brick buildings in town, the Sheets bank, which afterwards housed Jacob Mettle’s shoe repair shop, and a brick dwelling where the Bank of Gallatin now stands. Part of this building was occu pied by The Tourchlight, a newspaper conducted by the Fram brothers, Thomas and George. This paper was later purchased by the late Harfield Davis and the name was changed to the Democrat.”

[This account published in the Sept. 30, 1943 edition of the Gallatin Democrat, written by C.M. Harrison upon Wynne’s death at age 84.]

Attorney H.C. McDougal

Modern Footnote…

Neither Frank nor Jesse James ever appeared in Da viess County court. Smoote never got his own horse back.

Instead, he kept the James’ horse, named Kate, and subsequently raised several colts from her.

This remains as the only civil lawsuit to ever be filed against Frank and Jesse James -- perhaps many considered pressing for an indictment, but few went beyond considering the risk.

Ironically, after Jesse’s death in St. Joseph in 1882, Henry Clay McDougal assisted in the prosecution against Frank James during a trial held in Gallatin in 1883.

Soon after that proceeding, McDougal left Gallatin for Kansas City and embarked upon a most fascinating career — a founding partner of what would become the renown law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon.

McDougal also became a personal adviser and confidant for several U.S. presidents.

For over 100 years Smoote’s lawsuit against Frank & Jesse James was filed among other legal documents in the Da viess County courthouse… overlooked and eventually forgotten. Historians came to believe that these papers were pilfered by some collector or unscrupulous historian.

But the authentic legal documents were rediscovered in August, 2007.

More accounts of this bank robbery, the 1883 Trial of Frank James in Gallatin, MO, and other Daviess County history can be viewed online: DaviessCountyHistoricalSociety.com

This is a post card photograph showing the building which housed the Daviess County Savings Association when robbed in 1869. It was located on the southwest corner of the town square. The building later had other uses as the sign painted on the building indicates; owner Jacob Mettle operated a boot and shoe repair shop from these premises. In 1869 the Gallatin bank acted as a branch office for a larger bank in Chillicothe operated by Judge James F. McFerran.

As most of the money transactions were made in Chillicothe, there was little cash on hand at the time of the robbery in Gallatin. Another post card photograph of this bank was taken just before the building was razed in 1903 to make way for the large 2-story brick building (note the fire hydrant) that still stands today. [Shultz Studio of Gallatin]

This newspaper page recreation first published for the re-enactment of the 1869 crime performed in 2019 by the Gallatin Theater League; Darryl Wilkinson publisher.

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

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After the Gallatin bank robbery...

Smoote sues Jesse James (and he lived to tell about it) Mistaken identity led to murder during the December 7, 1869, robbery of the Daviess County Savings

Legal response for the James Brothers...

Association. When Jesse James dropped cashier Capt. John Sheets with a bullet, mistaking Sheets for Gallatin’s Samuel P. Cox, James thought he had avenged the death of Confederate guerrilla leader Wm. “Bloody Bill” Anderson. Records show that only about $100 was taken from the simple one-room brick building located on the southwest corner of the Gallatin square. At the time of the crime, nobody knew with certainty who actually pulled the murderous trigger.

In their haste to depart, one of the bandits lost his horse and the bandits escaped southwest toward Cameron by riding double on the remaining mount. Along the way, they encountered a local farmer, Daniel Smoote, and forced a horse exchange. The robbers told Smoote he could have the mare they left behind in Gallatin.

Although the bandits were not recognized, the horseflesh they left behind linked Jesse James to the crime. Soon thereafter, Governor T.T. Crittenden proclaimed a bounty for the arrest

Kate

of the James brothers -- marking the first time Frank & Jesse James

..the bay mare linking Jesse James to the crime

were publicly branded as outlaws. Mrs. Sheets, the wife of the murdered bank cashier, offered a reward of $500. Daviess County added $250 for each outlaw, the bank another $500, and the State of Missouri $500 — all a part of the $3,000 total reward offered.

People in those times were known by the horses they kept; horseflesh could be easily recognized by those whose livelihoods and well-being often depended upon horses. Good horses were highly prized. Daniel Smoote wanted his own horse back.

And the bay mare he kept – linked to owner Jesse James -- was proof enough for Gov. Crittenden to publicly brand Frank & Jesse James as outlaws for the very first time. Smoote never got his own horse back. Instead, he kept the James' horse, named Kate, and subsequently raised several colts from her. The Smoote family eventually relocated to Belton, MO, where today the family lies in the Belton Cemetery.

James Boys never appeared but yet they

Claimed innocence...

The response on behalf of the James boys to Daniel Smoote's allegations foreshadows what was to fuel their emerging notoriety. Defense attorney Samuel A. Richardson wrote that defendants Frank and Jesse James denied being at or near

Attorney H.C. McDougal sued the James Boys on behalf of Daniel Smoote

No regrets, but...

H.C. McDougal later may have had second thoughts about prosecuting the James Boys. In his book entitled, "Recollections," McDougal relates a harried moment when he thought he might unexpectedly be personally confronted by Jesse James while riding on a train. As the outlaws became more notorious, McDougal's worries increased. Ironically, after Jesse's death in St. Joseph in 1882, McDougal assisted in the prosecution against Frank James during a trial held in Gallatin in 1883. Soon after that proceeding, McDougal left Gallatin for Kansas City and embarked upon a most fascinating career — a founding partner of what would become the reknown law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon. McDougal also became a personal advisor and confidant for several U.S. presidents. ©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company

Gallatin on Dec. 7, 1869 (top letter). They denied stealing anything from Smoote.

More significantly, the Jameses argued their case publicly by writing a letter published in a Kansas City newspaper, a technique repeatedly used by the Jameses to vault their legendary exploits and self-proclaimed innocence to national and international prominence. Predictably, Frank and Jesse James never appeared in court. The James boys spent the next decade flaunting their lives in crime.

A courthouse footnote...

For over 100 years Smoote's lawsuit against Frank & Jesse James was filed among other legal documents in the Daviess County courthouse ...overlooked and eventually forgotten. Historians came to believe that these papers were pilfered by some collector or unscrupulous historian. But the authentic legal documents were rediscovered in August, 2007, by James Muehlberger, an attorney and author researching H.C. McDougal for the law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon of Kansas City.

James Muehlberger and Daviess County Circuit Clerk Sue Bird

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

13

Nationally acclaimed Missouri artist Thomas Hart Benton included a James Gang robbery scene reminiscent to the 1881 Winston train robbery in his famous mural in the Missouri Capitol at Jefferson City.

Robbery & Murder at Winston, Missouri, on July 15, 1881

Daviess County again fell victim to the acts of robbery and murder when the eastbound train of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad was stopped near Winston, just west of Gallatin,

what was going on and was shot in the head. The outlaws ransacked the express car and disappeared into the adjacent woods.

Few of the acts committed by Frank & Jesse James are

during the evening of July 15, 1881. Ironically, the first newspaper

more legendary than the Winston train robbery. Writers have

reports of the holdup stated that the bandits were “a most desperate

speculated that the train was robbed and Westfall murdered because

gang of train robbers, recalling the times of the James and Younger

of the conductor's participation in the ill-fated “Pinkerton Raid” on

brothers.”

the James Family Farm in 1875 when the James' half brother, 8-year-

They were half right, for while the three Youngers were

old Archie Samuel, was killed and their mother lost her arm to an

spending their days in a Minnesota prison, Frank & Jesse James

exploding device. Such things make for great legend but documen-

were still very much alive, free, and active. The crime which unfolded

tation indicates no such link exists. The acts during the train robbery

near Winston, MO, was described by the Kansas City Star as “the

were nothing more than cold-blooded murder and robbery.

most daring, reckless and cold-blooded murder and robbery ever enacted in the country.” The James brothers had returned!

After the robbery, a posse was organized which trailed the outlaws southwest toward Clay County …and the home of the James

Three men boarded the train at Winston, taking seats in the

brothers. The trail would be lost, but suspicions would arise that the

passenger car. It was later determined that at least two others

robbery and murders were yet another committed by the nation's

boarded at Cameron; others were waiting for the train just east of the

most infamous bandits. McMillan's body was sent to his family for

Winston depot. As the engine began pulling from the depot, two men

burial in Iowa. Westfall's body is buried at Plattsburg, MO. After the

overtook the engine while two others, probably Frank & Jesse James

assassination of Jesse James in 1882, Frank James surrendered to

them- selves, stood up and began firing through the roof of the

the Governor of Missouri and would later face justice for his

passenger car.

“alleged” participation in the Winston train robbery and murders.

One of the first shots struck Conductor Wm. Westfall in his

Although witnesses testified they had seen Frank James in

side. As he stumbled toward the rear door of the car, another bullet

the area of Daviess County immediately prior to the train holdup, no

was fired into his back. He tumbled through the door and was later

one could definitely state he was on the train when it was robbed.

found dead at the side of the tracks. Frank McMillan, a stone mason

Regardless of the trial outcome, it is now accepted historical fact that

and passenger in the smoking car, stood up to get a better look at

the robbery was committed by the Frank & Jesse James gang.

With Jesse James assassinated (left), gang member Dick Liddil (right) agreed to testify against Frank James in the hope of gaining his freedom. Like Jesse, the other outlaws involved in the Winston train robbery – Clarence Hite and Wood Hite – were already dead by the time of the trial of Frank James held at Gallatin in 1883.

14

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

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The Trial of

FRANK JAMES

1883

Aug. 21 — Sept. 6 Gallatin, Missouri THE

THE

DEFENSE

PROSECUTION

John F. Philips

Wm. H. Wallace

Chief counsel on the defense team who was a Supreme Court judge

Jackson County’s prosecutor with high political ambitions

Should a Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Missouri vacate his post to act as a defense attorney?

Could a Kansas City prosecutor find justice, or was he just motivated to make good on a campaign pledge?

Frank James claimed to be in Texas visiting a sister at the time of the Winston train robbery.

Six months after his brother, Jesse, had been killed, Frank

of witnesses all testifying that Frank James was involved in the

James surrendered himself to Missouri Gov. Thomas Crittenden on

crimes. Led by Col. John F. Philips, the defense brought several

Oct. 5, 1882. Prosecutors across the country scrambled to check old

prominent figures to testify, including popular Confederate Gen. Jo

warrants against the famous outlaw in hopes of bringing him to justice. Shelby of Lafayette County and Frank's mother, Zerelda James The most active was William Wallace of Jackson County, MO, who

Samuel. Emotions ran high. Newspapers everywhere speculated on

found that in spite of the crimes committed in his county, he could not

the outcome. Few doubted that Frank James was guilty of the

successfully bring Frank James to trial there. With at least three

crimes, but most agreed the chances of conviction were slim. These

outstanding warrants against Frank James, Daviess County

suspicions were confirmed when the jury

Prosecutor Wm. Hamilton contacted Wallace and requested his

returned a verdict of “not guilty” after only

assistance in bringing Frank James to Daviess County for trial.

four hours of deliberation.

At 10 a.m. on Aug. 20, 1883, Frank James stood before Judge

James would later be tried in Alabama,

Charles Goodman at Gallatin, charged with the murder of Capt.

where he again was found “not guilty.” He

John Sheets who was killed in the 1869 bank robbery, the holdup of

spent the rest of his life as a free man.

the Winston train robbery in 1881, and the murder of Frank McMillan during that train robbery.

Newspaper publisher John Edwards ...James Boys’ “publicity agent” who arranged Frank’s surrender

The Gallatin Democrat was accurate in its Aug. 25 report when it Over 100 persons were interviewed before this panel of 12 jurists was selected.

published, “Probably

Prosecution Witness

Gov. Crittenden Among the 128 trial witnesses was Missouri Governor Thomas Crittenden, though his son would later be a pallbearer at Frank James’ funeral in 1915.

no case, criminal or

otherwise, has excited as much interest as that of the noted person now on trial in this city – Frank James.” Newspapers from across the

Defense Witness

country sent reporters to witness the proceedings. Crowds became so

Gen. Jo Shelby

large that a local opera house had to be used; admission tickets helped

Popular Confederate Gen. Jo Shelby testified for his old friend, Frank James, but was fined for being intoxicated during the trial proceedings.

hold the throng to about 400 each day.

Frank James was defended by an impressive array of attorneys, all offering their professional services free of charge. The jury was selected “from the good and righteous men of Daviess County,” a procedure authorized by law led by southern sympathizer Sheriff Crozier. The prosecution, led by Wm. Wallace, presented a list ©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company

Grand jury rules for Frank James to face criminal charges

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

15

The Original ‘Pit Jail’ 1841-1858 A sketch of the first county jail located in Gallatin Sketch by David Stark (1993)

Frontier justice: Daviess County's first jail was known as the "pit" jail. Little is known about this structure other than what is indicated by this sketch.

In December, 1856, James McFarran was asked to plan a new stone jail to replace this wooden log structure erected over a holding “pit.”

Before the Squirrel Cage Jail was built...

Daviess County’s 2nd jail held Frank James The county’s second jail (which preceded the squirrel cage jail), was planned in 1856 and completed for use on Nov. 15, 1858, at a cost of $3,300. The structure, known as the old stone jail, was located at the northwest corner of the public square in Gallatin. This was the jail in use during the trial of outlaw Frank James (although the famous outlaw was released on his own recognizance daily during the trial, free to roam throughout the town).

No image of the second jail used by Daviess County is known to exist.

Research of courthouse records during

south of center is not determined. James

were believed to have done the work. This

1857-1860 reveals much about the construc-

McFarran was asked to plan a new stone jail

was completed by Dec. 19, 1859, and again

tion of the county’s second jail as well as

and estimate its cost in December, 1856.

reported complete on May 9, 1860, with tin

other Daviess County improvements.

Plans were approved to be placed under

used for the roof.

In addition to the courthouse (1842),

contract the first Monday of May, 1857. In

The court paid for a drawing of this

public well (1842), and plank fence (1846),

September A.C. Ball made drawings of the

building in March, 1867, but nothing of this

horse racks were put up by Frances N.

new jail and McFarran was named Jail

drawing remains. This jail was reported to

Buckholts in 1857. The repair of the board

Commissioner. Shea Griffin & Company got

have been northwest of the courthouse.

fences that enclosed the courthouse yard cost

the contract and received

$129.37. A new clerk's office building had been

payments in June and September,

discussed since February, 1851. It was to be

1858. The new stone jail was

fireproof, but not to exceed $700. John W.

complete and ready for use in

(five members) robbed the new clerk's office

Sheets' plans for the new clerk's office were

November, 1858.

building, taking the county's treasury of

o

n Nov. 17, 1867, the John Reno Gang

approved in May, 1859, and contracted with

By March, 1859, Sheriff

Joseph L. Nelson in June, 1859. The builder

James J. Minor was using the jail

and Sheriff John Ballenger sought legal relief

was to be paid $1,500 plus $200 for the

as a residence. Plans were made

from lost funds caused by the robbers. The

erection on the east side of the public square.

in August, 1859, to add a kitchen

county provided funds for 10 guards to keep

The office was received by the county on

and smokehouse to make a better

the gang in jail (owing to its poor condition)

Dec. 1, 1859.

residence of the facility. This was

Drawings of the building show it on the east side of the courthouse, the distance

to cost $400, and $250 was added for a privy. Owings and Osborn

$23,000. County Clerk Joseph H. McGee

and Dr. William Folmsbee was paid $35 for care of the prisoners. John Reno was taken to the state penitentiary by Feb. 4, 1868 ...but that's another story.

16

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

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Missouri, Mississippi, Meramec, Osage, Kahoka, Kenoma, Kewanee...

The strange-sounding names on highway signs are reminders of the American Indians who once called Missouri home. Few Indians are left in the state. The names and some villages that still can be toured are nearly all that remain of a rich heritage. The territory, basically north of Interstate 70 today, once was controlled by the Missouri Indians. Some records call them the Missourias; the first French explorers knew them as the Oumessourit. The Osage tribe ruled south of the interstate.

The Sac, Fox and Pottawattamie which frequented Daviess County were peaceful and friendly.

This land survey made in 1823 is the oldest known to exist. Like township maps which

Formation of Daviess County At the formation of the State of Missouri, Daviess County was attached to St. Charles County, which included all of the territory lying north of the Missouri River and some territory south of the river.

Howard County organized in 1816, and the present Daviess County was attached to this new county by territory legislators.

Then in 1820 the first State Legislature organized Ray County to embrace all land north of the Missouri River and west of Grand River. Sixteen years later, Daviess became its own county by boundaries that remain in place today.

It is said that hunters and trappers visited this section of this country as early as 1826. Probably the first house in the county was built by John and Mayberry Splawn, who came here in January, 1830 (their cabin was erected near today’s Gallatin MFA Exchange). The Splawns soon removed east of Gallatin to what is still known as Splawn Ridge.

This territory had formerly been inhabited by tribes of Sacs, Foxes, Pottawatomies and Musquakies. Their last camp at Auberry Grove (north of today’s Jamesport) disappeared in 1834.

INDIAN TRAILS

1823 — Monroe Township, Daviess County, MO

followed, such as those completed across the county in 1838, the Indian trails were clearly marked (dotted lines added for display below). Indian trails often became roads used by pioneering settlers.

The most important trail below became the main road from Richmond, MO, to an early pioneer settlement along the Grand River at Splawn Ridge (located east of Gallatin).

Monroe Township — One of the oldest settled portions of Daviess County, MO NOTE: Block areas designate open fields cultivated by Native Americans

Chief Black Hawk of Illinois

Black Hawk War A Fort Built, But No Conflict in Daviess County, MO (1832) “In the year 1832 occurred the Black Hawk War, having its chief field of operations in Illinois but extending its baleful influence through the entire northern part of our state. Black Hawk organized a strong band of Sacs, Fox, and Winnebagoes and asserted his determination to drive white settlers from the frontier.

"At first he was successful in battle, but at last was disastrously defeated and captured. Our county shared the general excitement. A blockhouse and palisade fort was built...”

– David L. Kost Missouri State Representative from Daviess County in the 1870s

©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company

Research by David Stark, presentation by Darryl Wilkinson.

The first permanent settlers in Daviess County came to stay around 1830. This followed the last important Indian battle in Northwest Missouri, which occurred in July, 1818, when six Osage Indians (without guns) were shot and killed near Orrick. History records no Indian difficulties in Daviess County, in contrast to the historically significant Indian conflict in Northwest Missouri: the Boone's Lick Country War of 1810.

Records reveal that the blockhouse and palisade fort (reported by Rep. Kost at left) had walls made of upright logs. It was built directly east of today’s Gallatin on high ground overlooking a bend in the Grand River. There is no mention that this fort was ever used. No one recalls seeing the fort nor uncovering any artifacts from these days when Daviess County was a bona fide frontier, with worries about Native Americans on the warpath.

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

17

Meet Our Town’s Namesake...

Albert Gallatin Gallatin, Missouri, takes its name from one of the early financial giants in American history. Born in Switzerland, his full name was Abraham Alphonse Albert Gallatini. He graduated from the University at Geneva at age 18 in 1779. He came to the United States to offer his services to General Washington and the cause of human liberty. Gallatin served as commander of Fort Machias in what is now the State of Maine.

When Gallatin first entered the federal service in 1795 as a congressman from Pennsylvania, the federal debt was pegged at $78.7 million and rising. It was his contention that the debt would have held firm had not the Washington and Adams administrations paid nearly $10 million in tribute and ransom to four Mediterranean pirate states. He encouraged the Jefferson Administration to stop paying pirates and helped direct the U.S. Navy to

PIRATES

hunt them down. Even allowing for the Louisiana and Florida purchases, which

Albert Gallatini was a Jeffersonian financier and diplomat.

His 12 years as Secretary of the U.S. Treasury is a length of service still unsurpassed. His name was given to a river, a mountain range, counties in three states, and to communities in Missouri and Tennessee

amounted to $15 million, President Thomas Jefferson and his Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin, reduced the federal debt by nearly half by 1810. Gallatin's treasury system proved practical and successful and was essentially unchanged for nearly 100 years. On Ocober 1, 1894, the system was changed (...and the author of that change was Alexander Monroe Dockery of Gallatin, MO).

A special strike of a bronze medallion honoring Albert Gallatin (1968 Medal JK-AC-112)

Secretary Gallatin promoted economy in government expenses and made the country prosperous until the War of 1812. The Treaty of Ghent, ending that war, is considered largely Gallatin's personal triumph. For 7 years Gallatin served as U.S. Minister to France and also made diplomatic missions to the Netherlands and Great Britain. Albert Gallatin, who declined to accept nomination for Vice President in 1824, is the only man ever to serve in the treasury post under two presidents. The county seat of Daviess County chose to honor Albert Gallatin when it officially incorporated as a city in 1858. Today Gallatin’s statue stands before the U.S. Treasury Building in Washington, D.C. His farm located at Friendship Hill, PA, became a national park with local officials from here Albert Gallatin is memorialized by this statue outside the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C.

18

participating in the opening ceremonies held there in 1992.

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

A tribute to Albert Gallatin at Friendship Hill, a national historic park in southwest Pennsylvania ©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company

A Frontier Gunsmith You Should Know...

Valentine Shuler

Shown above is a gun made by Valentine Shuler, one of many guns crafted by the Shuler family. How many Shuler guns were made during America’s early years? Nobody knows. Family descendant Don Shuler notes that a ledger, marked “J. Shuler,” has been passed down through his family. It has a numbering system of carefully inscribed grooves and hatches, and it stops at “193.” This may (or may not) indicate the number of guns made by Johannes (John) Shuler over his lifetime.

Nationally known Shuler Family gunsmith story culminates in Daviess County, Missouri Walk any cemetery and be reminded that

the lock plate has a script signature New Phila. Two that

papers in intermingled German and English. One of his

behind every marker lies a story. Among the older

don’t have his handmade lock with ‘R&W.C. Biddle & Co.,

sons, William David, lived on the same Jamesport farm

markers in Daviess County is one

Philadelphia’ on the plate…

for 67 years – continuing some gunsmithing and

in Mt. Zion Cemetery near Jamesport, where rests a

“One of the Valentines I have was made in Missouri.

locksmithing while working as a railroad clerk and in

man once nationally known for his craftsmanship in

Many of its features reflect the change from Ohio to

local schools. William Shuler was the last of the Shuler

making guns.

Missouri style and he was obviously affected by the

gunsmiths in the lineage of craftsmen who worked in

Valentine Shuler (1808-1885) was born in Pennsylvania, married a girl from Ohio, and eventually died in Missouri. Today Shuler’s work still lives on among the guns featured in the book, “Ohio Gunsmiths

Hawkins style plains rifles that were in

Pennsylvania, Ohio and Missouri for

demand there.”

approximately 200 years.

The Shuler name is a familiar family name to Daviess County. Darwin Shuler

Who taught whom?

& Allied Tradesmen” (by Donald A. Hutslar, published

(1898-1977) resided at Gallatin, at the east

by the Association of Ohio Long Rifle Collectors, page

end of today’s East Grand Street. Darwin

gunsmith through generations is often a

125). Some of the finest guns ever made in Ohio were

Shuler was featured by photograph in the

matter of speculation rather than fact, since

from Valentine’s hand. There are dozens of surviving

Daviess County History (published 1985,

surviving documentation is so rare. This is

“Shuler Rifles” still in the marketplace although most of

page 487). His genealogical records and

certainly true for the Ohio Shuler Gunsmiths.

these are not at all like the “family gun.”

personal memories help describe Valentine

Some surmise that Johann Valentin Schuller

In a ledger covering the period 1837-45 there is evidence that Valentine Shuler was not only filling

Shuler, the gunsmith of national renown.

The succession of the craft of

Valentine Shuler

Valentine Shuler was the great-grandson

was a gun maker and, if so, it is reasonable to assume he trained Johannes (John) in

orders for guns but was also training apprentices. The

of Franz Schuller, a German who settled his family,

Northumberland County, PA, before moving to Ohio.

ledger lists 33 special orders, thought to be custom

associated with the German Reformed Church, in Berks

Johannes was approximately 23 and married with one

made guns rather than guns sold from stock. Prices

County, PA. His son, Johann Valentine Schuller (1759-

son when he moved with his father to Licking County. If

ranged from $13 to $25. The record also lists the number

1833) was a renowned calligrapher whose works are

the old man did not do it, certainly Johannes was old

of balls to a pound, barrel length, half or full stock

treasured in numerous archives. About 1817 Schuller

enough to have trained his younger brothers, Daniel and

and wife moved to Licking County, OH. The future

Valentine. Also, Valentine passed the trade on to at least

master gunsmith was one of the couple’s six children.

two nephews and one son.

weight, patch box style plus special features ordered.

Shuler made patented locks, so if this was desired it was noted. One unusual order called for “German silver butt plate eight pieces of silver, brass around lock plate and patch box with spring hook.” The price was $20.

Information compiled by John Shuler, the great-

He was about age 9 at this time.

By 1830 Valentine Shuler had developed a considerable gunsmithing trade and was co-owner of a

How many guns made?

Don Shuler notes that a ledger, marked “J. Shuler,”

sawmill. In 1853 after his first wife’s death, Valentine

has been passed down through the family. It has a

great grandson of the gunsmith, includes comments

remarried and moved to Chillicothe, MO, in 1861. Four

numbering system of carefully inscribed grooves and

describing four family guns that he owns. He writes:

years later he relocated to Jamesport in Daviess

hatches, and it stops at number “193.” This has the

County, acquiring small parcels of land and a homestead

family wondering if this is the number of guns made by

expressed his artistic ability in different ways. He signed

with his sons William David, Martin Banes, and Ulysses

Johannes (John) Shuler over his lifetime. It is unknown

all of his guns apparently. Three that I own have

Franklin.

how many total guns were made by the Ohio Shuler

“All four guns are different, so he (Valentine)

Valentine Shuler on the barrel in block letters and the

Valentine combined gunsmithing and farming,

fourth and earliest is signed in script on the barrel and

amassed a small personal library, and left behind scant

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Gunsmiths.

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

19

Pioneer Mormons shape region

HISTORIC MORMON COUNTRY

Daviess and Caldwell counties owe their formation to the Mormons who lived in Missouri in 1838. What transpired in those days in what was then the Missouri frontier is among the most unusual chapters in Missouri history. This is the site of the "Mormon War." Today there is no evidence of strife. Gazing upon picturesque Adam-Ondi-Ahman or the immaculately groomed memorial at Far West makes one wonder if the term "war" is a misnomer. Yet, consider the following:

Historic LDS Visitors Sites from Gallatin, MO, to:

ADAM-ONDI-AHMAN approx. 10 miles Hwy 13 south of Jameson, MO; about 15 minutes travel time

FAR WEST approx. 20 miles 2024 NW State Highway D, Kingston, MO 64650; about 25 minutes travel time

LIBERTY JAIL approx. 58 miles

• Mormon numbers swelled to over 2,000 in just months, causing fears about majority rule among “gentiles” who cleared and settled the land

216 N Main St, Liberty, MO 64068 via Interstate 35; about 1 hr travel time

Liberty Jail is where Joseph Smith, founder of Latter Day Saint movement, and other associates were imprisoned from Dec. 1, 1838, to April 6, 1839, during the 1838 Mormon War. Smith was later killed by a mob while incarcerated at the jail in Carthage, IL.

• Daviess Countians talked openly of organizing against Mormons after an election scuffle occurred in Gallatin • Misunderstandings, escalating hostilities, and irreconcilable differences spawned vigilante groups, destruction and bloodshed • Missouri Gov. Lilburn W. Boggs issued his infamous "Extermination Order," ordering 2,800 state troops to stand ready to march into Caldwell and Daviess counties • 20 Mormons were killed and about 20 wounded in military engagements; one Mormon was killed and perhaps another 10 injured in beatings by Missourians and a number of Saints died as a result of suffering and exposure while Missourians suffered one dead and about a dozen wounded in conflict

Joseph Smith

“The 1838 Mormon War” by Stephen C. LeSueur University of Missouri Press, Columbia 1987

Missouri Historical Review “The Mormon Experience in Missouri 1830-39, by R.J. Robertson, Jr.

“...they (Mormons) declare openly that their God hath given them this county of land, and that sooner or later they must and will have the possession of our lands for an inheritance, and in time they have conducted themselves on many other occasions in such a manner that we believe it a duty we owe ourselves, to our wives and children, to the cause of public morals, to remove them from among us...”

– Citizen petition circulated in July, 1833 in Jackson County, MO

‘Extermination Order’ a dark chapter...

Artist’s concept of a skirmish between Mormons and “Gentiles” at Gallatin, Daviess County, MO in 1838

Extermination Order in Missouri By 1838 the main body of the Mormons were at Far West in Caldwell County. Missourians viewed secret Mormon teachings and oaths of the Danite band, the unwillingness finally repealed in 1975 of Mormon leaders to submit to local authorities, and military operations of Mormon For 137 years, it was technically legal to kill soldiers as evidence of Mormon intentions to overthrow the government in western a Mormon in Missouri. The law was on the books Missouri and supplant it with their own. Thus, Gov. L.W. Boggs gave orders to treat the until 1975, when Governor Christopher “Kit” Bond Mormons as public enemies and issued his infamous extermination order. General D.R. officially rescinded what was known as the Atchison was in command of the militia near Far West, but he revolted and withdrew the extermination order. Bond, later serving Missouri state’s military force. This left Gen. Samuel D. Lucas in command; war seemed imminent. as a U.S. Senator, says Mormons still thank him.

On Oct. 30, 1838, inspired by the exterminating order of the Governor, a detachment of "I've had a lot of people who come to Missouri who men under the command of Captains Nehemiah Comstock, William O. Jennings and told me they came back because the William Gee fell upon a defenseless settlement of Mormons at Haun 's Mill and murdered the entire settlement of men, women and children with very few escaping. On the same day Brigadier-Gen. Alexander W. Doniphan Extermination Order is repealed." the troops approached Far West and encamped one mile from the town.

The next day Gen. Lucas induced several leading Mormon men to come into his camp To Samuel D. Lucas, Major-General Commanding: for the purpose of consultation. When they arrived, these Mormons were made prisoners of "It is cold-blooded murder. I will not obey your order. My brigade war: Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt, Lyman Wight, George W. Robinson;. the shall march for Liberty tomorrow morning, at eight o'clock; and if you next day Hyrum Smith and Amasa Lyman were added to the number of prisoners. Although these men (with the exception of Colonel Wight) were not military men, a courtmartial on execute those men, I will hold you responsible before an earthly tribunal, charges of treason was convened and all prisoners were sentenced to be shot. so help me God! A. W. DONIPHAN, Brigadier-General Gen. Lucas issued the execution order but Brigadier-General Alexander W. Doniphan Missouri Historical Review, July 1910. Vol. IV, No. 4, page defied authority and he refused to carry it out. This so disconcerted General Lucas that the sentence was not executed.

Following their departure from Missouri, the Mormons also The prisoners were kept by the militia for some time, then turned over to the civil courts. After being imprisoned for several months under one pretext or another, they were sought redress through over 700 petitions to the federal permitted to escape with the connivance of the officers, and no effort made to apprehend government; Joseph Smith and Elias Higbee argued the them on charges then pending. The Mormons at Far West were disarmed, their property Mormons' case personally to President Martin Van Buren but confiscated, and they were banished from Missouri. to no avail since Supreme Court rulings indicated a federal The eventual costs of the Mormon War, for both Mormons and Missourians, amounted to over $1 million. The state legislature appropriated about $200,000 to pay the action would infringe upon states' rights. expenses of the conflict. Mormons calculated their losses, in both property and suffering, to Mormons, led by Brigham Young, settled in Utah where they several million dollars. The Mormon War literally changed the course of Missouri history experienced more armed confrontation in 1857-58. with the migration of the Saints first to Illinois and eventually to Salt Lake, Utah. Upon their surrender, Missouri officials arrested Mormon leaders on charges of treason.

Joseph Smith laid out the town site of Adam-Ondi-Ahman on May 19, 1838. While staying at the home of Lyman Wight, Smith organized the church Stake (later dissolved with the expulsion of the Saints in November). Smith proclaimed Tower Hill as the site of an ancient Nephite Altar and the nearby valley of the Grand River where Adam met with the great high priests of his time and blessed his posterity before his death. The Mormons believe that in this same valley, at the second coming of Christ, there will be another gathering of high priests and righteous people. Adam-Ondi-Ahman means “the

Adam’s consecrated land...

20

place or land of God where Adam dwelt.” (Mormon Doctrine,19–20)

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

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The Lewis Mill Uncovered Unusual pre-Civil War grist mill discovered during bridge construction in 1989 The economic development of frontier America was greatly shaped by water mills, especially grist mills grinding grains for consumption. For generations of rural Americans, before the spread of roads and highways and the introduction of new technologies such as the steam engine, water-powered mills had a profound influence on their lives despite a diminished importance in doing the nation’s work.

Much of the time spent by early county court judges was in ordering and approving early roads. These trails ran from historic place to historic place in nearly a direct line. Many of these locations were mills. The records, however, do not describe the power source for some of the mills, nor the work done at the mill such as sawing, milling, grinding, carding, grain separating or cleaning, etc. The exact site of some of the places has been lost. The descriptions given, if any, are not clear in current terminology.

Courthouse records show 23 grain mills operated in Daviess County prior to the Civil War. Not all of these were water-powered, and few if any mills west of the Mississippi River were like the Lewis Mill.

The original mill built about 1855 was rebuilt in 1863 by Eramus Lewis, using an outward flow reaction turbine.

Water flow amplified by a 100-foot race tunnel powered a horizontal turbine wheel rather than a traditional water wheel.

Despite modifications, the Lewis Mill did not have sufficient power to perform grinding profitably. In 1876 the tunnel caved in beyond repair.

In 1878 the mill sold and was refitted but continued in declining use. Eventually, the weathered building fell victim to the torrential waters of an untamed Grand River during the afternoon of May 25, 1899.

Silt entombed portions of all three mills which operated at the site until bridge builders (erecting a new bridge using federal grant funds) cut into the timber remains in November, 1989. Bridge construction abruptly stopped. Excavation revealed many mill parts, including a native walnut water turbine wheel still intact.

The following lists 22 mills which once operated in Daviess County, of which little more is known:

1. Taylor McCully Mill 1839 Constructed by Jacob Groomer before 1840.

Last referenced in 1860 when it was owned by Mary McCully. The first county trail northwest of Gallatin went to this site. May be the first waterpowered mill built in Daviess County. Located in the west half of the southwest quarter of Section 15 (T60N-R29W) and sold to Taylor McCully in August, 1839.

2. Matthew Patton Mill 1841 First noted on May 10, 1841, when Charles Yates requested a Dram Shop license. In June 1841 a road to the place was requested and approved by the court in December. Last reference in May 1847 when it was called the Sevier Mill. Located on North Big Creek at the old town Pattonsburg.

3. Lewis Watson Mill 1841 On North Big Creek just north of "Dry Deer Lick" at the southeast quarter of Section 16 (T61N-R28W). Sold to Jonathon Watson in 1849, last referenced in 1859.

4. Cypress Creek Mill 1841 Location unknown. Also been called the Whirte’s Mill (when last noted in 1844).

5. Harris Mill 1842 The only reference seems to place it in the northeast part of Daviess County.

6. Hardin Stone Mill 1842 South of Gallatin on Marrow Bone Creek near the trail to Richmond. (See Mill #11)

7. Lenhart Horse Mill 1842 Reported in other records, in Monroe Township.

8. Haptonstall’s Mill 1847 First called Haptins Falls Mill, near a place later called Alta Vista. Also called the Smith Mill, Happenstall Mill, and the Jeremiah Lenhart Mill in 1858 and 1859. Reportedly built by Vincent Smith in 1845 and burned in November, 1860.

Probably located on Lazy Creek in Section 19 (T59N-R29W) near an old road to Maysville.

9. Gay’s Mill 1847 On Mill Seat Branch in NW part of the county.

Most unusual was the walnut water turbine wheel (shown above).

Apparently the wheel was powered by centrifugal force. The water was channeled into the center of the wheel and forced outward through the open ended water wheel paddles. There may also have been a flywheel apparatus designed to assist the centrifugal forces involved.

Apparently the wheel balanced on a center upright spindle and wear was evident on the encompassing timbers. The wheel set clear of the shale bedrock, resting three feet below the top of the walnut floor joists. The wheel was tapered from center to outside perimeter, made of two layers of wood and cross-pegged to add power to the turbine.

10. Barnett Dilley Mill 1851 On Sampson Creek near the trail from old Pattonsburg to Gentryville. May have been built

by William Patton in 1850; also called Cooper’s Mill in 1854 and Taylor’s Mill in 1856.

11. Hardin Stone Mill 1851 On Honey Creek south of Gallatin in December 1851 (exact location may be mistaken).

12. Shriver’s Mill 1853 On Grand River known as "Mill Dam." May have been constructed by Samuel Crews, sold to Andrew Shriver in May, 1854. Mapped as the Daviess County Milling Company in 1876; first called the Shriver and Scott’s Mill in July, 1854.

13. Jackson Township Mill 1854 14. Netherton-Isaac Steam Mill 1856

Archaeologist Dr. Gary Rex Walters of Triad Research Services, with State Rep. Phil Tate (1989).

The Lewis Mill may have been constructed according to a design

by Benoit Fourneyron (1827). This metal tirl (left), with wooden hub, was discovered during site excavation. The tirl spun as water poured downward at a precise angle from a stationary wooden wheel positioned above. The shaft turned by the tirl was probably geared to mill stones in the milling room atop the entire mechanism.

This action (reversing the direction of rotation of the water in a downward flow) could generate as much as 125 revolutions per minute, compared to about 60 revolutions of the older wooden water wheel powered by direct stream source.

Archaeologists discovered evidence of a wooden building

From four to nine feet of earth and debris covered the site. The excavation floor was about five feet below the river channel. A cofferdam temporarily diverted water away from the archaeological dig; water seepage required the area to be pumped daily. Here are a few additional notes on what was discovered: >> Authorities almost immediately determined that the site would qualify for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places >> No written confirmation of the Lewis Mill, either by local sources or at the State Historical Society in Columbia, were known to exist when remnants of the mill were accidentally discovered >> New bridge construction work damaged a portion of the mill, but only by damaging it did work crews save it.

15’x40′ on the downstream (south) side of the dam to house gears and power mechanism. A stone wall built along the river bank measured 66 feet in length, typical pre-Civil War construction: parallel walls filled solid with rubble. The dam was still apparent in 1989; a cut once anchored a timber walled spillway. The stone dam probably extended the width of the river.

The excavators believe the Lewis Mill was two or three stories tall with the grinding performed on the upper floor. Stone walls indicate the store being the full 66-foot length with some evidence of interior stone walls still evident. Additional use of stone was used for retaining walls.

A 16-foot walnut shaft was among the first artifacts uncovered. Archaeologists think it may have been originally positioned vertically from the water turbine’s hub. An opening in the shaft may have allowed for re-positioning of the steel and wooden flywheel as needed. Gears and shafts then transferred the power for various uses elsewhere in the 2-story stone building.

On the west of the southeast corner of Section 12 (T61N-R26W), near John and Harry Netherton’s land in 1859-60.

15. Craig’s Mill 1857 May have been built by Uriah Craig on Dog Creek near Pool Ford (Surface Ford) on the trail from Gallatin to Mirabile.

16. Liarley’s Mill 1857 May have first been called Dave Brown’s Fish Trap in 1856 but known as Youtsey’s Mill on the Grand River in 1857. In 1865 the mill was on the trail from Salem to the Old Union Meeting House. Owned by Solomon "Lierley" who came to Lincoln Township in Daviess County from Illinois in 1856.

17. Weldon’s Saw Mill 1857 Near Haw Branch Ford, south of Honey Creek.

18. Thornton S. Talbot Mill 1858 On the old bed of the Grand River where the trail from "Greasey" to Breckenridge crossed.

Last referenced in 1860.

19. Steven’s Mill 1859 On South Big Creek near Grand River.

20. C.E. Morton Steam Saw Mill 1859 Near Honey Creek south of Gallatin in 1859, shown on the William Lewis land Section 4 (T58N-R27W) on the 1876 plat.

21. Hill’s Steam Mill 1860 Reportedly at Auberry Grove

22. Weldon’s Mill 1862 On an old bed of the Grand River at Hobb’s Ferry in 1862. It was at Weldon’s Ford in 1863 and in 1864 Benedict Weldon was assessed for a $300 steam mill (no location given).

These "unknown" mills are in addition to the more widely known mills, such as the David Groom Mill, the Butler-Lewis Mill, and the Robert Peniston Horse Mill. There were also three steam saw mills shown on the 1876 plat pages not included in the list above. Since there were no new mills found in the records up through 1865, research on this topic ceased with 1865.

Researched by David Stark, Gallatin; first published in the Gallatin North Missourian on March 7, 1990

Daviess County placed remnants of the Lewis Mill in storage where the artifacts remain today ©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

21

Railroad [circa 1955] PHOTO BY HUBERT LONG, GALLATIN

The impact of the railroad in the development of rural America cannot be overstated. Nearly all towns in Daviess County were built around railroad depots. Transportation for developing commerce depended on trains, both to ship farm products and livestock out as well as to bring manufactured goods and products here. Trains impacted the very fabric of every community, bringing national figures like William Jennings Bryan here or delivering disadvantaged children from the cities seeking opportunities in rural Midwest small towns via the “Orphan Trains.” And in 2017, railroads still impact decisions here as Daviess County seeks ways to replace bridges on low-traffic roads using railroad flat cars.

The influence of railroads here began soon after the Civil War. By 1869 a narrow-gauge railroad called the Chicago Southwestern was rolling through Daviess County. Then in 1898 the Rock Island took over, making Altamont the site of the largest coal chute between Kansas City and Chicago. The Rock Island built 13 houses for railroad workers, several of which still stand and are in use at Altamont. Meanwhile, the Omaha & Chillicothe Railroad was in operation in 1871, putting “Pattonsburgh” on the map in northwest Daviess County.

Gallatin’s prominence was fueled in no small way by being the crossroads of two railroads. The impact of rail commerce led to the relocation of a college from Edinburg, MO, to Gallatin (1893-1918). Nationally known McDonald Tea Room built its reputation by attracting traveling salesmen who then lauded the restaurant’s fare across the country. The stopover at Gallatin allowed vaudeville from Chicago one last dress rehearsal before performing for audiences at Kansas City – much to the delight of Gallatin folks hungry for live entertainment at local meeting halls.

The Rock Island depot at Winston has survived because it was turned into a community museum by the Winston Historical Society. Railroad tracks bisecting the county were torn out during the early 1970s; the last Rock Island train came through in March, 1973. Other depots are now non-existent or in a state of slow decay. Of all the water tanks, coaling docks, depots, tunnels and turntables built to support the rail lines, only one track is still active here today – the Chicago Rock Island & Pacific near Lock Springs in the extreme southeast corner of Daviess County.

Just south of the county on this same line is the newly constructed 110-car shuttle-loader grain storage facility, built by MFA Incorporated and MFA Oil Company. The new facility, capable of handling 14 million bushels of grain annually, opened in 2017. It provides direct access to the Union Pacific Railroad and Highway 36 to I-35.

1914

Altamont Depot

Rock Island Depot Jamesport, MO 1909

FRANK & JESSE JAMES Winston Depot the Scene of 1881 Robbery, Murder This is the Rock Island train depot in Winston, MO, where James Gang members embarked in order to pull off their 1881 robbery. The depot was built in 1871 on a high point in Daviess County, halfway between Gallatin and Cameron. The first station agent was T.F. Jefferies, a native of Somersetshire, England. Two sets of tracks fronted the depot and were used for switching cars while a set of siding tracks ran behind the depot.

Today the Winston depot lives on as a community museum developed and maintained by the Winston Historical Society. It displays James Gang legend and lore on the authentic site where the 1881 train robbery commenced. The depot stands at the south edge of Winston, at the junction of Highway 69 and Route Y. This railroad stone culvert, located east of Winston, MO, can still be seen today. It is commonly associated with the James Gang robbery of a Rock Island train in 1881 even though its construction actually postdates the infamous robbery and murder. Before this, a wooden trestle was used instead of this huge stone arch. (photo date unknown)

“Once I interviewed a Gallatin lady whose husband worked for the railroad during the Great Depression.

During these years the railroads were one of the main sources of public transportation. Most railroads operated with three shifts, seven days a week. As the severe drought lingered and both farmers and workers had fewer dollars to spend, the railroads were used less and less. Railroad workers began to lose their jobs — they were "bumped," meaning the newer employed workers lost out to those with more seniority. Many workers lived in old railroad cars in disrepair. The inside Wabash Depot during it’s last years in o walls weren't plastered and dust often filtered inside. These cars were set in yards located about approximately 30 feet from the tracks. In some parts of the country, obtaining water was difficult even in normal times. People had unsuccessfully tried to drill for water. To solve the water problem, water was often shipped into town by the use of a large railroad tank car. Workers, in turn, packed the water they needed into their "boxcar" houses.” — Wilbur Bush, Gallatin

22

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

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Jackson Switch... Blake...

Towns

DAVIESS COUNTY, MISSOURI

Perhaps no railroad impacted North Missouri more than the Hannibal-St. Joseph Railroad, located just south of Daviess County. The railroad anchored the east end of the Pony Express at St. Joseph, and changed many commerce routes by horse-drawn freight wagon not just in Daviess County but throughout the entire region.

Wherever trains rolled, Shipping livestock... communities developed Very little land in northern and northeastern Daviess County was purchased by private ...or were obliterated. owners before 1850. Most of the better land in

the county was sold under the Pre-emption Act of 1841 for $1.25 per acre, or donated to help develop the railroads.

The last recorded cattle drive from Daviess

N.B. (Pole) Brown became a great cattle shipper when the railroads came. Brown is reported to have shipped 2,000 carloads of

Boxtown...

In 1825 business coming up the river from Brunswick created a trading center on Lick Fork Creek at a grist mill called Boxtown in Harrison Twp. But then the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad laid tracks just two miles to the south, eliminating Boxtown’s future.

Old Greasy...

For over 40 years the settlement between Springhill in Livingston County and Mill Port in Daviess County was known as Old Greasy. In 1871, the St. Louis & Omaha Railroad bypassed this settlement, making way for the rapid development of Lock Springs.

Bancroft...

cattle during 1870-1880. In 1880 he shipped

Located in Lincoln Twp. in northeast Daviess County, this town gave way to Gilman City about 1890 when tracks for the Omaha & Quincy Railroad were laid just a mile away.

400 carloads of cattle from Daviess, Harrison, Gentry and Nodaway counties. Since one

one year.

About 1835 Matthew Patton built the first water-mill in Benton Twp. on Big Creek. Patton Mill later changed to Pattonsburgh. The spite of a railroad official, in charge of the 1871 construction of the Omaha & Chillicothe Railroad, doomed the town when the tracks skirted the river bottoms to arrive at high ground three miles to the southeast. The tracks then illogically turned back south to end on the bank of Big Creek in a low, undesirable site thickly covered with elm trees. A box-car depot was erected, named Elm Flat. Businesses followed the railroad and thus the name “Pattonsburgh” was removed on the map.

This Jefferson Twp. community, named for the English queen, saw its trade diverted when the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad was built. Victoria ceased to exist as early as 1880.

greatly impacted the agricultural economy here.

have shipped 16,000 head of cattle during this

Pattonsburgh... Elm Flat...

Victoria...

County occurred in 1849. Railroad shipping

carload held 40 head of cattle, Brown would

Once about halfway between Jamesport and Gallatin, Jackson Switch was renamed as Blake when the Chicago & Southwestern Railroad designated it as a flag station for its passengers

Special Trains: When interest warranted, the railroads would announce special trains scheduled for specific purposes. One example occurred in 1886 when 19-year-old convicted murderer Joe Jump was executed, the first public hanging in Daviess County, MO. This attracted a huge crowd (estimated between 20,000 and 30,000 people); the Rock Island ran special trains to Gallatin for the benefit of spectators. Train cars can be seen behind the scaffold in many authentic photos of the hanging. Two weeks later the hanging of Jump’s accomplice, John Smith, attracted a crowd of witnesses estimated between 8,000 and 10,000 people.

1872 — RAILROADS IN NORTH MISSOURI

1902 90.66 Miles of railroad operating within Daviess County in 1902:

Wabash Railroad Depot

CRI&P Railroad Depot

Quincy, Omaha & Kansas City -- 13.13 miles; Wabash -- 35.81 miles; Rock Island (main line) -- 28.26 miles; Rock Island, St. Joseph branch -- 7.07 miles; Kansas City, Peoria & Chicago -- 6.39 miles. Railroads connected Daviess County to the rest of the world. By rail, St. Joseph, Omaha, Leavenworth and Kansas City were but a few hours away; St. Louis and Chicago were within a night's run.

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HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

23

GALLOWS LURE HUGE CROWDS THOUSANDS WITNESS EXECUTIONS IN GALLATIN, MISSOURI Just a few hundred yards north of town (east

to kill Gladson. A rope was attached to a boom eight

of where Hwy 6 crosses over Route MM today), the

feet above the platform and spiked together. A fence

only public executions in Daviess County occurred in

was placed around the structure which only allowed a

1886. Joe Jump, 19, and John Smith, 22, were found

few select men to be inside. A black coffin covered with

guilty of murdering William Gladson, an Iowa

gunny sacks was placed at the steps. Eventually, it was

teamster laying track for the Rock Island Railroad.

determined the two convicted felons would be

They killed for Gladson’s weekly pay: three $20 bills.

executed separately.

The plot began with Jump placing a pitman

On July 23, 1886, Gallatin became a temporary

rod near a vacant house with a nearby well in south

city of 20,000-30,000 people. Both regular and special

Gallatin. The two men lured Gladson to the old house

trains to Gallatin were loaded with passengers to

to play cards. Once there, Jump took the pitman rod

witness the hanging of Joe Jump. The previous night

and hit Gladson while Smith held him. When Gladson

some 250 wagon loads of spectators camped near the

fell lifeless, the villains threw the body in the well and

Grand River bridge, and about 100 teams camped

split the money.

northwest of town. At the hanging, ice water sold

The crime was discovered when two men, wanting to store oats in the vacant house, noticed Gladson’s hat and the bloodstains at the well. The

handsomely by the glass, and afterwards small portions of the hanging rope were sold as souvenirs.

Daviess County Sheriff Witt invited 50 other

suspects were apprehended the next morning as

county sheriffs to attend. The sheriffs lined up by twos

Jump waited for a train to make his getaway.

to escort Jump to the gallows. At the appointed time,

The trial leading to Jump’s conviction

Sheriff Witt securely strapped Jump and put a black

produced much publicity. The scaffold, located just off

cap over his head, then unfastened the handcuffs, and

the Rock Island tracks, was built for the two men to

fastened the rope around his neck. The murder weapon

be seated so as to be hung at the same time. The 3’x4’

used to kill Gladson released the trapdoor, letting his

trapdoors would be sprung with the pitman rod used

body fall seven feet. Joe Jump was dead in 12 minutes.

The murder weapon (a Pitman rod used to kill Gladson) became the lever to open the trapdoor

The only public hangings in Daviess County occurred in 1886, a crime of murder for money.

Photos taken during the execution of Joe Jump reveal few if any women witnessed the event.

SECOND HANGING NOT NEARLY AS SENSATIONAL John Smith gained a brief reprieve from then-Gov. John Marmaduke, but public pressure prevailed. Smith was hanged two weeks later, on Aug. 7, 1886. The same ground preparations made for Jump’s hanging were used for Smith. The crowd was estimated between 8,000 and 10,000 people. At the appointed time the train carrying the prisoner arrived. Smith was escorted to the scaffold and seated by Sheriff Witt and Sheriff Smith.

At roughly 12 noon, the sheriffs began pinioning John Smith.

Soon, the pitman rod again was used to open the trap door and approximately 11½ minutes later, he was dead.

24

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company

About the 1889 Squirrel Cage Jail...

Great Escapes?

Were There

Any

YES!

calaboose. A short time later, the city marshal found that the suspects had sawed one of the January, 1899 — Two Pattonsburg men, hinges nearly off the door. A search revealed sentenced to 90 days for carrying concealed no saws. So, the two prisoners were handcuffed weapons, performed the magical feat of walking securely together. And yet, a short time later, through the bars of "chilled steel to liberty, and officers discovered their prisoners had cut a return to the freedom of plying their pilfering these handcuffs entirely off. vocation." Nobody quite knows how — and a grand jury convened at that time described this The two prisoners were searched again before being escorted to this rotary jail. This time the rotary jail as “unsafe for the safe keeping of search revealed a number of prisoners.” saws and burglar tools, taken Ed Conley and Adam Brown were partners in from their clothing. On Jan. 12, crime with a tramp hoodlum called "Moxie" who 1899, the Gallatin Democrat was responsible for the death of Constable Wm. declared: Parker on Oct. 29, 1898. During court proceed"How they got their implements ings, Conley was shown to have provided Moxie of destruction (while in jail at with the pistol used in the killing.

Pattonsburg) is as much of a mystery as what was done with Conley and Brown were arrested the day after the bars of chilled steel that nighttime robberies occurred at Pattonsburg.

Officers found a complete outfit of skeleton keys Daviess County paid the on Conley and Brown, arousing suspicions. The contractors to put in the cages and gratings, which Conley and men were promptly locked up in Pattonsburg's

his pal went through like a rat through a cracker box, cutting a hole wherever they desired and carrying off pieces of the grates as mementos."

This escape from the rotary jail prompted a grand jury investigation, which condemned the jail as "unsafe for the safe keeping of prisoners" in 1899. The county court approved the condemnation ...but provided no means for jail repair and the county kept on using it.

The following lists a few of the more notorious local crimes during the latter years the jail was in use: (NOTE: Not all listed below involved incarceration in the Squirrel Cage Jail) 1955 – Sheriff A.F. “Buster” Clements crushed his hand in a car crash while chasing two Gallatin boys who escaped from the Caldwell County Jail. The sheriff underwent surgery after the thumb on his left hand was torn from the socket and bones shoved through the palm of his hand. The escapees were apprehended in KC after a 20-block chase involving six squad cars and four gun shots.

1957 – A bad check artist, using six different aliases, was finally jailed here; five Gallatin businesses robbed 1959 – Pattonsburg man faces murder charges, held in the Squirrel Cage Jail 1961 – Authorities ponder future of Squirrel Cage jail after state review; jail later significantly modified in 1964 1965 – Jamesport bank robbery 1967 – Murder trial to Buchanan County on change of venue, ends with conviction Aug. 31, 1967 – Three escaped from this Squirrel Cage Jail but were promptly captured in Liberty, MO, within the hour by Missouri State Troopers. Two prisoners, a Kansas City man facing murder charges and a Pattonsburg man facing burglary and larceny charges, broke out of jail and forced another prisoner to flee with them. The jail was not guarded since the sheriff and his wife were visiting a hospitalized deputy in St. Joseph at the time of the break. The escapees destroyed a cot and used a steel rod to break the cell lock. They then stole a car which had been impounded during the investigation of another case.

Sept. 10, 1970 – One prisoner, jailed here on charges of disturbing the peace and forgery in Caldwell County, escaped by pushing up a loose roof section in the jail. He was later caught hitchhiking north on Hwy. 13 by a city night watchman.

1970 – Man murders wife outside a tavern on the Gallatin square, later sentenced to 10 years at the state penitentiary; 16-year-old Pattonsburg youth faces charges of murdering another youth Learn more about the 1974 – Man incarcerated here 1889 Squirrel Cage after pistol whipping two Gallatin Jail online. men at the Daviess Co. Country Club Click on this website: 1975 – Two men jailed after armed robbery at business west of Gallatin www. DaviessCountyHistoricalSociety.com

©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company

More Information Like This on Display at the 1889 Squirrel Cage Jail Visitors Center, Gallatin

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

25

Parlor, ladies residence

Girls’ dormitory bedroom

Boys’ dormitory room

Gallatin, MO (1893-1918) Grand River College became an alma mater for hundreds of students before fire burned down the premises, terminating the institution. But Practice Room, and main corridor

while in operation, the college had seven departments. Degrees were granted in Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts, and Master of Arts.

Eventually, the college became Grand River Academy and served as a preparatory school for William Jewell College, Liberty. Due to financial The college president’s office

Director of Music John Norman

Grand River College was a co-educational institution, said to be the first college in Missouri to admit women on equal terms with men. It opened to the public in 1850 at Edinburg, Mo., and maintained there for 40 years. But because Edinburgh was an inland town, the trustees decided to remove to another location and enlarge its facilities.

Gallatin, with thriving rail service, was selected. Local citizens erected a $15,000 building on five acres in the south part of town. Around 1900, an addition was added on the east end of the original building and later, a men’s dormitory was built across the street west of the main building.

difficulties, the Academy closed in 1910 but the school reopened as a school for girls in 1914. A full 4-year course was offered. During the fall of 1918, an attempt was made to make Grand River College an accredited military school for the Student Army Training Corps. But before the government could act on that petition, the college burned down.

Scarf Drill – Delsarte Work

by Elocution Pupils

Grand River College emphasized its School of Music... “Music washes away from the soul the dust of every-day life” declares the 1898 catalog. “No part of our college work receives more careful attention than this department, for none is of much more importance.” John H. Norman of Oxford, England, and Leipzig, Germany, served as Director of the Conservatory of Music of Grand River College. “No music conservatory of the west can boast of a man at its head of musical attainments superior to those of Dr. Norman, and none can offer advantages superior to those of Grand River College.” He studied under European masters such as Sir John Goss, W.T. Best, A. Rubinstein and Charles Halle. At age 13 he made his concert debut as a solo pianist and later became organist at some of the principal churches in Europe and the U.S.

Chemical Laboratory

Mathematics (Prof. G.W. Lockridge)

Business

Physical Laboratory

Art Hall

Chapel

Science Room

Typewriting

Physical Exercise (Ladies Residence)

“Lotus Eaters” – Delsarte Work by Elocution Pupils

26

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company

F

or over 50 years McDonald Tea Room brought

thousands of people to Gallatin, MO – all sharing a

Charlie built the building by Virginia's vision

Crocker initiated a radio series on the most

and oral blueprints, and he also built the tables and

interesting restaurants in the United States, Virginia

great dining experience. When radio was a media in

chairs. But he also helped Virginia build the business.

was the first person interviewed!

its golden era, Duncan Hines ranked the Tea Room in

Night after night he would go down to the railroad

Gallatin as "one of the 10 best places to eat in

station to rub elbows with the men who plied his old

Gardens published a book of 90 of the country's best

trade, the traveling salesmen. His motive was

restaurants. They called it "Famous Foods from

America."

A southern lady from an affluent Texas family,

In 1964 the editors of Better Homes and

advertising. He knew that if you wanted to pass the

Famous Places." McDonald Tea Room was selected,

word along on anything, you told a traveling

along with places like Four Seasons in New York,

salesman, in 1914. When Charlie's mother passed

salesman. And just as he figured, soon a sizable

Maxim's in Houston, Palmer House in Chicago,

away in Missouri, Virginia and Charlie moved to

number of "drummers" were finding their way to

Broadmoore in Colorado Springs, and Sun Valley

Gallatin to care for his father and to make Gallatin

Gallatin and Virginia's cooking.

Lodge in Idaho.

Virginia married Charlie McDonald, a traveling

their home. But Charlie's belle of Texas became ill

Virginia, she insisted that everyone call her

Former President Herbert Hoover tasted her

with tuberculosis after their arrival here. Virginia was

that, was the Tea Room in its prime. She "enter-

food as did Margaret and Mary Jane Truman, actress

forced to take the "open air" cure, resting in a many-

tained" people as well as impressing their taste buds

Martha Scott, baseball magnate Branch Rickey, and

windowed room that was known as Maple Shade, due

with delightful food. Wearing one of her wide-

former Missouri governor Arthur M. Hyde. Virginia's

to the large tree just outside the window.

brimmed hats, Virginia would sit in the Crystal Room,

corn muffins were a weakness of J.C. Penney, the chain store founder whose boyhood home is just 13 miles south of Gallatin in Hamilton.

Gallatin almost lost the Tea Room after Virginia's death in 1969. Joyce Hall, the founder of Hallmark Cards, often came up from Kansas City to dine with Virginia. At the time the great Crown Center development project was in planning, Mr. Hall considered a complete relocation of the Tea Room within the complex of stores and exclusive shops.

The idea was dropped because of the negative impact

Everyone Knew Virginia!

on Gallatin's economy. At the time, Hallmark did not have a subsidiary business, such as a greeting card facility or warehouse, that could be placed in Gallatin to supplant the Tea Room.

Cars with out-of-state license plates were

For seven years Virginia lay in that room.

conversing with the dining public while she cajoled

commonly seen parked on West Grand Street in

vegetables into works of art that would garnish her

Gallatin at McDonald Tea Room. Local civic and

McDonald, had built a shop beside the house now

salads and relish trays. Locally viewed as eccentric,

social clubs frequently held luncheons and meetings

housing the ailing Virginia. The shop evolved into a

Virginia did things her own way.

at the Tea Room.

Charlie quit his traveling job. His father, Sam

blacksmith, harness and carriage shop and, later, a

During ownership by Betty and Tom Cobb of

No bills were ever placed on the tables in Virginia's time. She was always in position behind a

Kansas City, the kitchen was modernized. Dottie and

grocery business by adding a line of hardware. But he

small kneehole desk, dispensing a gracious kind of

Jim Stotts of Liberty operated the establishment from

still could not make ends meet.

hospitality, and a running commentary for as long as

1979 until Dorva and Bob Jones of Kirksville assumed

grocery store. Charlie tried to enhance a meager

one cared to linger and

responsibilities.

school, Charlie decided to add a lunch counter and

listen. She soon

Eventually, some time

serve hot dogs and soups to school children. Soon,

mentally cataloged the

others were coming to eat at Charlie's counter. All the

favorite dishes of her

while, Virginia lay in her bed thinking about Charlie's

regular patrons. If she

Since the McDonald store was close to the

"The drive is worth every hungry mile for hearty helpings of pan-fried chicken,

after Bob's death, Dorva auctioned off the contents of the Tea Room.

lunch counter and his struggle to manage the family

knew you were coming,

sugar-glazed ham and pecan rolls."

affairs alone. Charlie had borrowed money from the

your preferences would

— Midwest Living, June 1988

bank and was not yet able to pay it back.

be served at your table

completely remodeling the

whether they were on

Tea Room in the style and

From this adversity, Virginia rose from her sickbed to take over the lunch counter. McDonald Tea

the menu for the day or not. It was one of those

Room made its official debut in 1931. It began in the

special touches her friends loved. In 1949 Virginia

Bud and Jean Kirkendoll resurrected the business,

grandeur of Virginia's times, only to see the building and entire contents go up in flames on July 4, 2001.

area that was commonly

compiled a cookbook

known as the Garden Room

which revealed many of

(the main entrance room).

her culinary secrets.

McDonald Tea Room except that a great cook

There really was no reason for the existence of

The north part of the

There were four

decided to go into business next door to her home.

Crystal Room was opened

printings, and in 1950 it

Virginia's success is as American as any Horatio

in 1939. Even this addition

was the only cook book

Alger story. With no business training and facing an

did not alleviate the waiting

ever to be honored as a

$8,000 debt while recovering from several years of

that people had to endure

Book-of-the-Month Club

serious illness, she triumphed.

to eat at the Tea Room.

selection. When Betty

People would wait on the patio in good weather, and

"My mother was an aristocrat in the South and never learned to cook, or even cared, until after the Civil War. She vowed then that all her daughters would know their way around a kitchen."

Virginia would serve her famous iced tea.

Virginia McDonald, a Southern belle whose restaurant in Gallatin, MO, gained national acclaim by a No. 1 Book-of-the-Month cook book and radio fame (the only cook book to do so to this very day)!

— Virginia McDonald (1887-1969)

Charlie and a helper built the final portion of the Crystal Room around the lean-to that had housed

“When we walked in for lunch, the first thing we noticed was the smell: a yeasty, come hither aroma of rolls fresh out of the oven.”

Sam McDonald's original blacksmith, harness and carriage shop. It was a labor of love. The initials "V" and "Mc" were prominent in exterior masonry. Inside, the "V" pattern was repeated in the decor built by Charlie for his belle.

©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company

— A Taste of America, pp.163-64, by Jane & Michael Stern, Universal Press Syndicate 1987 The Crystal Room, for banquets and larger gatherings, showcased the familiar "V" architectural accent

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

27

Gallatin’s Richard H. Cruzen Leads Exploration of Antarctica:

Operation Highjump

Two small black “dots” in the lower center of this photo are explorers, men who fought frigid ice conditions to explore Antarctica; ocean waters are shown in the foreground

Admiral Richard H. Cruzen (1897-1970) was a graduate of Gallatin High School and became one of Gallatin's most decorated sons. During his exciting military career including polar explorations, he received many honors including the Legion of Merit, the Atlantic Fleet Clasp, the Second Nicaraguan Campaign Medal, the Yangtze Service Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the Fleet Clasp, the American Area Campaign Medal, Philippine Liberation Ribbon with two bronze stars, and World War II Victory Medal.

But he is best known for his exploration of the Antarctic.

Rear Admiral Richard H. Cruzen

1947 – Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal congratulates Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Rear Admiral Richard H. Cruzen, commander of the South Pole task force shortly after arriving back at Washington, D.C. on the USS Mount Olympus, flagship of the Navy Antarctic expedition. Looking on, from left, is Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, chief of naval operations.

One explorer group eastward, another westward; Admiral Cruzen’s central group based on Ross Shelf

Between the years of 1925 and 1937 Richard Cruzen served aboard several cruisers, battleships, and destroyers. Then his next assignment, as commander of the 65-year-old barkentine named the Bear, took him into the stormy Atlantic ice pack. From 1939 to 1941 he was with the U.S. Antarctic Service Expedition, second in command to Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, the veteran explorer who led the expedition in search of geographical and scientific data.

After graduating from Gallatin According to a Navy report, 1,000 High School in 1914, he attended the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) miles of new coastline was discovered in Lexington, VA, and the Severn on exploratory trips by the Bear and School in Severna Park, MD. He Byrd's sea plane. Commended by was then appointed to the U.S. Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox for Naval Academy. As a young his “superior seamanship, ability, midshipman, Cruzen served aboard the USS Mississippi, courage, determination, efficiency and operating with the Atlantic Fleet good judgment in dangerous during the summer of 1918. A emergencies,” Cruzen was one of the 16 year later, he graduated from the members of the 1939-41 expedition who Naval Academy and was commissioned an ensign. Being received the Antarctic Expedition advanced in rank to lieutenant on Medal, presented in November 1946.

June 7, 1925, Cruzen served in On Dec. 2, 1946, Cruzen once various capacities with the U.S. more set sail for the Antarctic continent. Navy and was then promoted to This time, as Task Force Commander lieutenant commander in 1935, commander in 1941, captain on with Rear Admiral Byrd of the Navy's June 20, 1942, and finally to rear Antarctic Developments Project, also admiral on April 1, 1944. After known as “Operation High Jump,” WWII, he served as operations Cruzen led a force of 13 ships carrying officer of the Seventh Fleet in the some 4,000 men, including Pacific and later as commander of the USS Birmingham. meteorologists, zoologists, physicists, and experts from oceanographic institutes. Besides looking for new scientific data, another purpose of the expedition was to train Navy personnel and to test standard Navy ships and other equipment in cold weather operations.

Cruzen navigated through an ice pack of several hundred miles before reaching Little America. Icebergs and unpredictable weather were formidable foes during the course of this expedition. Among the discoveries made during the 1946-47 expedition was the sighting of two “oases,” one a region of ice-free lakes and land. More than 300,000 square miles of unpathed territory were charted on aerial mapping operations. Their observations proved that radical changes would have to be made on existing maps of the Antarctic.

Admiral Richard H. Cruzen died on April 15, 1970.

“Admiral Byrd got the publicity, but the real hero of the expedition was Rear Admiral Richard H. Cruzen. He did a great job of piloting the ships through the ice. When his only son was killed in a hunting accident, Cruzen stayed on the bridge, didn’t take a minute off as the expedition grazed past deadly ice barriers. Cruzen and Byrd had the same rank, though Cruzen had the real power. His title was ‘commander of task force.’ While newspapers were announcing that Byrd ordered the evacuation from Antarctica, it was Cruzen who really gave the order. Byrd didn’t have the authority. Inside fact is Cruzen was sent along by the Navy as a balance-wheel to Byrd’s temperament – a driving, fanatical man with tremendous ambition. Relations sometimes were tense between Byrd and Admiral Cruzen.”

— newspaper columnist Drew Pearson, “Washington Merry-Go-Round” 1947

28

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

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Seth Thomas Clock’s

Four Faces Marking Time What does the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Daviess County Courthouse in Gallatin have in common? Both have an original, hand-wound antique Seth Thomas clock. The antique tower clock atop the courthouse has helped keep Gallatin on time since 1909, a year after the courthouse was completed.

The four faces of the clock still operate off its original weight and cable system. A similar Seth Thomas antique clock, housed in the Smithsonian Institution, has been electrified. So, even some of Daviess County’s ol’ timers aren’t aware of the uniqueness and value of their courthouse timepiece. It is one of the oldest working clocks of its type in the United States. Quite often, as it tolls the hour and half hour from its 1,200-pound brass bell, the sound can be heard four miles from town.

To view the clock one has to climb 93 steps into the courthouse dome. The massive weights which power the mechanism are located below the huge brass bell. The clock itself, on an even higher level, is reached by a short flight of narrow steps.

The clock was purchased by the Gallatin Commercial Club for $1,500 — a lot of money in those days. And the McShane all-brass bell

Clock Keeper Buster Gordon [circa 1980]

cost another $1,429.69. It measures 38 inches in diameter. Both were presented to the county on Jan. 2, 1909.

All four faces of the clock are operated off the same mechanism. The weights which drive the mechanism weigh 2,250 pounds. Back in 1921, one of the cables broke and about half the weights plunged through two floors of the building. The following is an account of the incident, published in the April 21, 1921 edition of the Gallatin North Missourian entitled:

Crash at the Courthouse "About 10 o’clock Tuesday morning occupants of the courthouse thought a Bolshevik bomb had been turned loose, or the furnace had blown up, when one of the big 1600-pound weights of the courthouse dome clock broke loose, crashed through the top and third floors, and landed on the second

floor. The crash made a terrifc noise, and the populace didn’t know at the instant what had happened. Very fortunately, the weight hung close to the corner, and no one was near on either floor.

Had the mishap happened during a session of court the odds are that two-to-one someone would have

— Big 1600 Pound Clock Weight Breaks Loose and Plows Through Two Floors

been caught in its downward path.

"The big weight is made up of about two dozen smaller weights, these fitting into an iron slot arrangement, and hooked to a wire cable. It was the cable that gave way. The weights did not separate until landing on the second floor.

They made a clean cut hole in the

six-inch concrete third floor, big enough for a person to go through.

"Two large 1600-pound weights operate the striking apparatus.

The clock is keeping time just as if nothing had happened. It will cost a right neat sum of money to repair the building damage. It is mighty lucky that no one was killed."

I

t seems that nothing stops the courthouse clock… as long as it’s properly wound. About the only repair to the

actual clock involves the striking mechanism, and occasionally replacing the wooden hands for the four exterior clock faces. Pigeons have always been a problem. They like to ride around on the wooden hands and there have been times — like when the clock reached 9:43 in the afternoon — they became stuck between the hands and had to be rescued.

Such indignity for old Seth Thomas!

A crank, similar to one used to crank a Model A Ford, is used to wind the clock — a weekly chore. Clock keepers in most decades include Buster Gordon, Bill Walker (who accompanied his father, Ted Walker, weekly to wind the clock) and Eric Corwin. Public access to the clockworks is somewhat limited. On the third floor of the courthouse, one must ascend a staircase, usually kept locked, to a fourth floor basically used as attic storage. The massive weights are encased here, and you can see the reinforcement railroad iron, concrete and wooden shaft built to guard against a repeat of the 1921 crash. Another narrow, steep flight of stairs leads to the solid brass McShane bell. The last leg of the journey (up into the dome with the clock) is by ladder.

Clock Keeper Bill Walker winds the clock [circa 1990]

©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company

Gear box and drive shafts extend to each clock face

The working antique attracts media attention

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

29

A Scientist You Should Know...

Mervin Joe Kelly The 1910 Valedictorian of Gallatin High School, the lab researcher who eventually became Chairman of the Board at Bell Laboratories Few people have impacted the communications world we live in today more than this innovative giant, Mervin Kelly (1894-1971).

To many, Mervin Kelly’s name does not ring a bell.

Born at Princeton, MO, Kelly’s family operated a hardware and farm implement business in Gallatin, MO, where he received his grade and high school education. Kelly graduated as class valedictorian at the age of 16. He studied to become a physicist at the University of Chicago, going on to join the research corps at AT&T. Between 1925 and 1959, Mervin Kelly was employed at Bell Labs, rising from researcher to Chairman of the Board. In 1950, he traveled around Europe, delivering a presentation that explained to audiences how his laboratory worked.

Mr. Kelly had great intelligence and great force. His work with R.A. Millikan at the University of Chicago gave him a lasting appreciation of the rarity and importance of first-rate scientists and firstrate research. He himself did creditable physical research. Later at the Western Electric Company and at Bell Laboratories (which was not formed until 1925), he did early and important work on vacuum tubes, including research, development, and manufacture. His group increased the life of telephone repeater (amplifier) tubes from 1,000 to 80,000 hours which by 1933 led to a transmitting tube for transatlantic telephony and broadcasting with an unprecedented power of 100,000 watts, and then later to a tube with a power of 250,000 watts.

Mr. Kelly was different. His fundamental belief was that an “institute of creative technology” like his own needed a “critical mass” of talented people to foster a busy exchange of ideas. But innovation required much more than that. Mr. Kelly was convinced that physical proximity was everything; phone calls alone wouldn’t do. Quite intentionally, Bell Labs housed thinkers and doers under one roof. Purposefully mixed together on the transistor project were physicists, metallurgists and electrical engineers; side by side were specialists in theory, experimentation and manufacturing. Like an able concert hall conductor, he sought a harmony, and sometimes a tension, between scientific disciplines; between researchers and developers; and between soloists and groups.

One element of his approach was architectural. He personally helped design a building in Murray Hill, N.J., opened in 1941, where everyone would interact with one another. Some of the hallways in the building were designed to be so long that to look down their length was to see the end disappear at a vanishing point. Traveling the hall’s length without encountering a number of acquaintances, problems, diversions and ideas was almost impossible. A physicist on his way to lunch in the cafeteria was like a magnet rolling past iron filings.

Kelly’s greatest contribution lay in creative technical management. It is no more than just to say that Kelly made Bell Laboratories the foremost industrial laboratory in the world.

A visionary firebrand, Kelly directed vacuum-tube R&D at the labs

Another element of the approach was aspirational.

Bell Labs was sometimes caricatured as an “ivory tower.” But it is more aptly described as an ivory tower with a factory downstairs. It was clear to the researchers and engineers there that the ultimate aim of their organization was to transform new knowledge into new things.

Still another method Mr. Kelly used to push ahead was organizational. He set up Bell Labs’ satellite facilities in the phone company’s manufacturing plants, so as to help transfer all these new ideas into things. But the exchange was supposed to go both ways, with the engineers learning from the plant workers, too. As manufacturing increasingly moved out of the United States during the last half of the 20th Century, it likewise took with it a whole ecosystem of industrial knowledge. But in the past, this knowledge tended to push Bell Labs – and this country – toward new innovations.

Kelly was always and forever pushing the operating management, and the heads of AT&T as well, to get on with new things.

Twice he submitted his resignation to the president of AT&T, stating that important work at Bell Laboratories was not being adequately funded. In each case, he got the funds.

SOURCES: “True Innovation” by Jon Gertner, published Feb. 25, 2012 in the New York Times Mervin Joe Kelly 1894-1971, A Biographical Memoir by John R. Pierce, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C. (Copyright 1975)

If you’re using a smart phone today , it’s totally appropriate for you to say “Thank you, Mr. Kelly...”

30

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company

Others You Should Know...

Governor of Missouri – A.M. Dockery: Born near Gallatin, MO, practiced medicine at Chillicothe, returned to help start The Farmers Exchange Bank in 1874.

Served 8 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (16 years). Elected governor (1900-04). Served President Woodrow Wilson as Assistant Postmaster General throughout both terms of Wilson's administration.

U.S. Speaker of the House – J.W. Alexander, Gallatin, MO: Elected to U.S. House of Representatives (1881) and became Speaker of the House (1886). Known for his efforts on behalf of veterans of the Mexican, the Civil and the Spanish wars. Judge of the 7th Judicial Circuit (1901-07).

Elected to the 60th Congress and chaired the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee. Drafted many important laws, including the original act controlling wireless telegraphy. Appointed Secretary of Commerce by President Wilson (1919) and was succeeded by Herbert Hoover when Warren G. Harding was president.

Gov. A.M. Dockery

Judge J.W. Alexander

Mary Edna Cruzen

U.S. Senator Conrad Burns (with Bob Dole, 1991)

New Deal Leader – Mary Edna Cruzen, Gallatin, MO: In 1935, Mary Edna Cruzen served on the state labor commission and was director of the Missouri State Employment Service. When Washington set up the job creation program Civil Works Administration (CWA) authorized by the New Deal, all placements in Missouri were made through the state agency led by Mrs. Cruzen. From offices in Kansas City she personally supervised the placement of over 9,000 men and women in gainful employment during the Great Depression. She did much to increase the efficiency of industrial inspection which reduces to a minimum industrial accidents and loss of life. She also was the mother of Admiral Richard H. Cruzen of Antarctic Expedition fame.

National Politician – Conrad Burns, Gallatin, MO: An agriculture radio personality elected as a county commissioner in Montana, Burns vaulted into national politics when elected to the U.S. Senate in 1989.

He received support from such nationally prominent political leaders as Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole.

Pioneer Nutritionist – Gallatin native Icie Macy Hoobler was among the first to recognize the role of nutrition in human reproduction and growth (1923-1984).

Missouri’s Newspaper Martyr – Wesley “Uncle Wes” Robertson, Gallatin, MO: Shot in 1919 for his written account and remarks concerning a Daviess County public servant. One of four scenes selected by the Missouri Press Foundation to be featured in a Missouri Press Heritage Collection.

Award-winning Novelist – John Selby, Gallatin, MO: A journalist and music critic for the Kansas City Star. Music and arts critic in New York for the Associated Press. Author of 10 novels, including “Island in the Corn” which many readers believe he mirrored his hometown of Gallatin, MO. All-Nations fiction prizewinner for “Sam” and author of best sellers “Starbuck” and “Time Was.” Lecturer at Columbia University where he taught courses in short story writing. Editor-in-Chief at Rinehart & Company until his retirement in 1965.

©2020. All Rights Reserved. Gallatin Publishing Company

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

31

Daviess County’s namesake: Col. Joseph Hamilton Daviess, hero during the

Battle of Tippecanoe Daviess County, MO,

is named after a Kentuckian killed

by Indians at Tippecanoe -- 25 years before the county was organized.

Joseph Hamilton Daviess grew up a woodsman in America’s frontier. At age 18 he joined a military mounted unit to escort provisions to army outposts north of the Ohio River. After this unit disbanded, Jo practiced law, mostly litigating land cases. It was Jo's custom to walk to his cases clad in deer skin, leggings and coonskin cap. With his rifle on his shoulder, he ranged the woods from one court to another.

Jo Daviess became a well-known public speaker but not a popular politician since he was a Federalist. In 1800 Daviess was appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Kentucky. He held that office until 1807. In November, 1806, Daviess led in legal charges against Col. Aaron Burr, charging him with efforts to levy war against the United States. Even though the fact was later proven against Burr, Daviess lost the case and lost popularity.

During this time Tecumseh and his notorious brother, "The Prophet," formed a confederacy of Indians to stop the whites' westward movement. Their headquarters was at the junction of the Tippecanoe and the Wabash Tippecanoe, rivers in north central Indiana. Governor William H. Indiana Harrison (later to become a U.S. President) decided to form an armed force and strike a decisive blow. Col. Jo Daviess was Aide de Camp of the Kentucky Militia and a major commanding a unit of Indian Dragoons which In 1805 Tecumseh and his brother, a medicine man known as The marched up the Wabash River to Tippecanoe. Tecumseh Prophet, began forming an Indian confederacy in Ohio by practicing was not at the village, but "The Prophet" led a surprise attack on Harrison's superstitious rites. By 1807 their religion had spread to the upper forces with a like number of warriors at 4 a.m. on Nov. 7, 1811. Harrison peninsula of Michigan. Tecumseh was an able orator, a remarkable entered the Indian village and burned it.

This scene depicts a small group of dragoons under the command of Major Joseph H. Daviess meeting an attack of natives during the Battle of Tippecanoe, Nov. 7, 1811. William Henry Harrison led American troops against Shawnee warriors. Fought near the Wabash River in Indiana, the battle ended in Native American defeat, thwarting Shawnee leader Tecumseh’s plans for a united federation of Native American groups.

President James Madison was able to use the battle to rally support for American troops in anticipation of the War of 1812 against Britain.

Tecumseh, leader of Indian alliance

military chief, and a successful negotiator who hated the white man. In 1808 when Tecumseh journeyed south to gain additional support for his alliance, General Wm. Harrison camped 1,000 men outside the village that acted as headquarters for the Indians. Gen. Harrison then provoked the Indians to attack and decimated the village. The destruction of Tecumseh's headquarters disillusioned many of the supporters of Tecumseh, who had believed he and his brother had supernatural powers.

Harrison lost 52 men and Col. Jo Daviess was among those killed. He was buried on the battlefield at Tippecanoe in an unmarked grave. He was 37 years old, married but childless. Counties in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri took his name as monuments to his memory.

1811: American Flag of 20 stars and 13 stripes

Eleven days after the battle, Gen. Harrison stated in official dispatch to the U.S. Secretary of War: “I found Major Daviess forming the dragoons in the rear of those companies, and understanding that the heaviest part of the enemy's fire proceeded from some trees about 15 or 20 paces in front of those companies, I directed the major to dislodge them with a part of the dragoons. Unfortunately, the major's gallantry determined him to execute the order with a smaller force than was sufficient, which enabled the enemy to avoid him in the front and attack his flanks. The major was mortally wounded, and his party driven back. The Indians were, however, immediately and gallantly dislodged from their advantageous position, by Captain Snelling, at the head of his company...“

Famous before heroics on the battlefield...

In 1795 Jo Daviess was admitted to the bar and entered on a career that made his name a household word in the West. His eccentricities made him famous. Instead of "riding the circuit," he used to shoulder his rifle and range the woods from town to town; and he usually appeared in court in a hunting costume. In 1799 he acted as second to John Rowan in a duel in which Rowan's antagonist was killed, when both principal and seconds fled to avoid prosecution, Daviess was for some time a fugitive; but, after hearing that Rowan had been arrested, returned, appeared in court as his counsel, and secured his acquittal. It is said that he was the first western lawyer that ever argued a case in the U.S. Supreme Court.

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HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

Major Joseph Hamilton Daviess Statesman, Grand Master of Masons in Kentucky, and soldier

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