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Spanish Colonization and Settlements under Spanish Authority--A little more than a hundred years ago the territory comprising Jefferson County was the undisputed home of the wild men of the forest and the native animals. The territory however at that time belonged to Spain and was under control of a Spanish Governor, who made liberal offers of land to persons who desired to settle permanently in the county. "While O'Riley was governor and captain-general of the whole country, from 1769 to 1790, homesteads were allowed to be taken only on the Mississippi, and the settlers could take up from four to six arpents front by forty back. This would give from 136 to 204 acres of land. Yet this rule was not uniform, either as to quantity or location, but the taking up of more than these quantities or locating lands off the river were exceptions to the rule, and was granted as a special favor to parties for some notable service rendered the Government." This rule appears to have continued in force until 1797, after which time each head of a family was allowed to take up 200 arpents of land for himself, fifty for each child, and twenty for each negro he brought with him, not to exceed in all 800 arpents. This was the origin of the ownership of the many tracts of land in the county known as "Spanish grants."
From the best information obtainable it is believed that John Hilderbrand, of French descent, was the first settler in what at the present time constitutes Jefferson County. In 1774, or perhaps earlier, he settled on Saline Creek, in the northeastern part of the county, and founded what was afterward called the Meramec settlement. Accordingly, the first settlement in the county was made at least 114 years ago. In 1776 St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve had become trading posts of considerable importance, but the country lying between was filled with savage Indians and wild animals, thus making a journey overland between these points extremely hazardous. Francisco Cruzat, who was the lieutenant-governor of Upper Louisiana, desirous of removing the perils of the journey, offered a donation of 1,050 arpents of land to any one who would establish and keep a ferry across the Meramec. Jean Baptiste Gomoche, a Frenchman, accepted this offer, and established a ferry across the Meramec, at what is still known as the Lower Ferry, about a mile above the mouth of that river. For this service Gomoche was granted the tract of land at the mouth of the Meramec, which includes the bridge across that stream and Jefferson Station of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway. At the same time a trail was marked out on the west side of the Mississippi from St. Louis to Ste. Genevieve passing lengthwise through what is now Jefferson County. This trail was called the King's trace. It crossed the Meramec at Gomoche's ferry, and was the first highway marked out in the territory of Jefferson County.
"Thomas Jones settled on a tract of land near Kimmswick, prior to 1779; in that year he was on the land making salt. Joseph Uge, Francis Desloge, Joseph Hortez, Jacob Wise and Peter Donivan settled on lands near Kimmswick from 1776 to 1781. In 1780 the Meramec settlement, where John Hilderbrand had lived, and the settlement at Kimmswick were broken up by Indian depredations, and the inhabitants fled to St. Louis for refuge. Gomoche also left his place in that year on account of Indian incursions. However, the damage soon passed away, and the parties returned. In 1778 William Belew settled on Belew's Creek, and no doubt from him the creek took its name. In 1784 Peter Hilderbrand settled on a tract of land near Maddox mill, but on the opposite side of the river. In that year he was out hunting, and was shot and killed by the Indians, on the bank of the river just below the present site of Maddox mill, and his family immediately removed to a settlement for protection. In 1786 Benito Vasquez, a Spaniard by birth, had a park on the Meramec land. He took up over 3,000 acres of land by special permission from the Spanish Government. He had a great herd of cattle and he manufactured salt. The trenches and rocks for his furnace are still to be seen there. Thomas Tyler, in 1778; lived on the place opened by John Hilderbrand. At that time he had eighty arpents, about sixty-eight acres under fence, forth acres of which were cultivated in corn and tobacco. John Boli settled on Romine Creek in 1788. He built a log hut, and opened a little piece of land. He was driven away from his home several times by the Indians, and his cabin was burned by them. John Piatt settled on Big River, not far from P. P. Byrne's mill, prior to 1790. In that year he was driven from his home by the Indians, and he remained away till 1800, when he returned. In 1801 he was again driven away, and several of his neighbors were killed by the Indians in 1803."
In 1790 the Indians became so troublesome that the settlers organized for defense, and built a rude fortification on Saline Creek near Thomas Tyler's cabin.
"James Head settled at House's Springs in 1795. He moved away in 1796, and Adam House moved on the place. House lived there till 1800, when the Indians killed him, cut his head off, put a piece of maple sugar (that the old gentleman had manufactured himself) in his mouth, and put his head on the fork of an old elm tree by the Big Spring. * * * House's son was badly wounded at the time, but he escaped, went to the settlement at Kimmswick and gave the alarm. All the settlers turned out, forming quite a company, with William Mars as captain, and they pursued the Indians, who were of the Osage tribe, on to Indian Creek, in Washington County, where they overtook them and gave them battle. The whites were victorious, killing many of the savages and driving the rest away.
"In 1799 Francis Valle, commander at Ste. Genevieve, gave Francis Wideman and as many of his connections as he could induce to come to this country permission to settle, provided they would settle fifteen miles from the settlements. Under this permission Elijah Benton settled at what is known as Darby's Mines. Under the same permission Francis Wideman, Charles Priest, Jacob Collins, David Delanny, Mark Wideman, John Wideman, William Estep, Hugh McCulloch, Sarah Priest, James Davis and James Rogers, with their families, settled on Big River and Dry Creek, near Morse's mill, about the year 1801. About the year 1800, Bartholomew Herrington, John Johnston, John Conner and James Donnelly settled at Peverly and Herculaneum, and Richard Glover, Claiborne Thomas, James Thomas, Charles Gill, Benjamin Johnson, Sr., John Litton, Gabriel Goff, Roger Cagle, Thomas Waters and David Boyle settled on Sandy. They went up Sandy as far as the farm of the late James Hensley. James Gray, Thomas Madden, Frederick Conner, Walter Jewett, Thomas Applegate, James Varner and James Foster settled about the same time at Horine and Bailey Stations. Richard Applegate, William Null, John Conner, Isaac Van Meter, Michael Rober and William Null, Jr., settled near and at Hematite. Thomas Bevis, Phil. Roberts and Robert Jewett settled at and near Victoria; and Ed. Butler and Hardy McCormack settled at De Soto. Thomas Comstock, John Sturgis, John A. Sturgis, Titus Strickland, Jacob Strickland, John Dowling, Jesse Dowling, Michael Regan, Abner Wood, Elizabeth Carlin, Eli Strickland, Thomas Hanan, Humphrey Gibson and Joseph Bear settled on the Plattin, penetrating near to the head of that stream. John Stewart, Charles Valle, William Drennan, Samuel Wilson, William Jones and Ann Skinner settled near Sulphur Springs and on Glaize Creek. Jonathan Hilderbrand settled at Maddox mill. He was a brother of Peter Hilderbrand who was killed by the Indians. Abraham Hilderbrand and Ira Hilderbrand, who were sons of the one that was murdered by the Indians, settled near T. P. Byrne's mill. Jacob Wickerham and William Wickerham settled on Belew Creek. These settlements on Big River, Sandy, Joachim, Plattin, Belew and Glaize were made from 1799 to 1803, the most in 1800 and 1801, while Charles IV was king of Spain, and Morales was governor and captain-general of Louisiana, and Zenon Trudeau and Charles Dehault De Lassus were lieutenant-governors of Upper Louisiana. All of the parties named or their heirs or legal representatives obtained homesteads by virtue of their settlements made by the permission of the Spanish officers."
Under Spanish authority the people obtained permission to settle on 126 tracts of land, within the present limits of Jefferson County, the titles to which were afterward confirmed by the United States. These grants comprise about 85,000 acres of the land in the county. Up to 1800 buffalo and elk were plentiful but with the advance of civilization these animals disappeared or kept a safe distance from the approaching settlements.
Early History.--"Indians were numerous. The Delawares and Shawnees lived south of this in Ste. Genevieve, Perry and Cape Girardeau, and the Osages lived near Union, in Franklin County, the Cherokees lived on White River. The Delawares, Shawnee and Cherokees were peaceable and friendly, but the Osages were very savage and warlike, and gave the settlers a great deal of trouble. In 1803 there was no postoffice nearer than St. Louis, and no road in the county. There were what were called trails from one settlement to another. There was no store here then. John Johnston had a little mill at the old Falkland place. The wheel was made out of a large log, cut with grooves. Johnston could crack corn a little, but hardly make meal. Francis Wideman also owned a small affair of the same kind in 1803, near Morse's mill, on Big River. It was the common belief among the neighbors that Francis Wideman was a sorcerer and necromancer and could conjure the devil. His brother John asked him to permit him to grind a little at night for himself. Francis granted the request, but told his brother he had better keep a sharp lookout for Old Nick. John went and set the mill agoing, and all at once the stones began to turn with such velocity that he became alarmed, and he shut off the water and went home without his grist, and told it as a fact that his brother Francis had conjured up the devil and made him interfere with the mill so that he could not grind. These were the only mills in the county in 1803. * * * From 1774 to 1803 the settlers of this county did all their legal business at St. Louis; they traded and got their mail there. The currency of the people was gold and silver and dressed or shaved deer skins." This brings the settlement of the territory of Jefferson County down to the time that the United States acquired title to it by treaty with France. (For previous ownership of the territory see State History.)
Soon after this the territory now embraced in the State of Missouri was divided into five districts, and according to this division all that part of Jefferson County lying north of Plattin Creek became a part of the St. Louis District, and the balance formed a part of the Ste. Genevieve District. "Benjamin Johnson, Sr., the father of Judge G. J. Johnson, was appointed justice of the peace, and he acted as the only justice for all the territory lying between the Meramec and Plattin. About 1805 a town called New Hartford was laid out at or near Illinois Station, and Christian Wilt and John W. Honey erected a shot-tower there. They also had a store, the first ever established in this county. A court for the transaction of county business, called the court of quarter-sessions and oyer and terminer, was established and was held at St. Louis. Benjamin Johnson, Sr., was one of the judges of this court in 1804. On the 20th day of December, 1804, John Boli was granted a license to keep a ferry across the Meramec, three miles from Fish Pot Creek. On the 15th day of April, 1805, the court of quarter-sessions at St. Louis, made this order: 'The court orders that the payment of all taxes for the use of this district may be made in shaved deer skins, at the house of the collecter, at the rate of three pounds to the dollar.' June 18, 1806, Bartholomew Herrington was excused from serving on the jury, on account of wounds received by him in the Revolutionary War. December 7, 1806, the court made an order dividing St. Louis District into assessment districts, and appointed Benjamin Johnson and William Moss assessors for the district of Meramec and Plattin, extending from the south side of the Meramec to the Plattin. December 18, 1806, Bartholomew Herrington and John Romine were appointed overseers of the road leading from John Boli's, on the Meramec, to Plattin River. On the first Monday of March, 1808, James Rankin, James Stewart and Thomas Comstock were appointed commissioners to locate a road from the town of St. Louis via Cololon's ford, on the Meramec, to the river Plattin. This road was located near the route of the old King's trace. On June 19, 1806, the court of quarter-sessions fixed the total levy of tax for the whole district at $1,559.71."
Other Settlers. --"In 1804, Peter Huskey, the grandfather of John Huskey, Sr., immigrated to this county from South Carolina. His sons, John and William, and three daughters, Mrs. Ogle, Mrs. Ben. Williams and La Fayette Ramsey, and also Landon Williams, came with him. John Huskey, Sr.'s grandfather on his mother's side, James Miller, also came along. This constituted eight families, and they all moved from South Carolina here in a cart drawn by four horses. Each family had one extra horse. They located near where the late James Hensley died, on Sandy. Thomas Hearst came also with the Huskeys, but settled on the Mineral Fork, near the western line of county. Hearst and the Huskeys were of Irish descent. In 1805 the Huskeys moved to the Bethlehem Spring, in the bend of Big River, and were making preparations to put in a crop. They lived in tents. One day the old gentleman was out looking for his pony when an alarm of Indians was given, and they all got the old South Carolina cart and hurried back to the settlement on Sandy. This year James Miller, a Revolutionary soldier, originally from Virginia, and the grandfather of Uncle Jack Huskey, died, and it is said he was the first white man buried on Sandy. Peter Huskey was the ancestor of all the Huskeys of this county. Benjamin Johnson, Sr., was from Virginia, of English stock, and is the ancestor of the Johnsons now living in the eastern portion of the county. Ben. Williams and Landon Williams are the ancestors of many of the Williamses who are still here. Peter Hilderbrand came from the South to this section in 1784, and is the ancestor of the Hilderbrands now here. The Hilderbrands are of French descent. Bartholomew Herrington, the ancestor of the Herringtons, was born in 1740, of Irish and German parents, in Lancaster County, Penn. He immigrated to this county with his family in 1800, several families accompanying him. A part of the family came overland and a part by water from Lexington, Ky. The party that came by water sailed down the Ohio and up the Mississippi in a canoe made of a large poplar log. They called it a pirogue in those days. * * * The Widemans came from South Carolina, and were of German descent. Bryant and Vanzant were here at an early date, and were from Eastern States. William Moss, the ancestor of that family, came from Virginia, and was of English stock. So were James and Claiborne Thomas. Josiah Craft came from New Jersey in 1809, and was of German descent. * * Craft married a Miss Weatherby, a half sister of C. B. Fletcher.
"James Rankin, the father of I. J. and C. S. Rankin, was a Canadian by birth, and moved to Herculaneum in 1808. Peter McCormack, the ancestor of that family in this county, was here about the beginning of the present century. He came from Georgia, anal was of Irish descent. M. Clain, the ancestor of that family here now, came from Georgia in the year 1800, and was of Irish descent. Samuel McMullin, the ancestor of that family in this county, came in 1805, and was of Irish descent. James and Eliel DonneIl, the ancestors of the Donnell family, came from the South, and were of Irish descent. William Null came from the South. Jacob Wise, the ancestor of the Wises, came from the South, and was of German descent. Ed. Butler, the ancestor of that family, came about 1800. William Hendrickson was here at an early period. James Pounds, the ancestor of that family, came about 1803, from the South, and was of Irish descent. Thomas Evans and Henry Metts were here about 1804. These constituted the first families of Jefferson County, and were all here at or before the organization of this territory under the act of Congress."
These were the pioneers who penetrated the "western wilds" and settled amid the savage Indians and dangerous beasts, and suffered the hardships of frontier life while carving out comfortable homes for themselves, their wives and dear little ones. Many were the hardships they endured. Besides the encounters with the Indians, the dangers, fear and dread of that race, which they had constantly to endure, they were without roads, bridges, mills, blacksmith shops, and many other things so essentially necessary to the welfare and convenience of a community. Yet withal, they lived happily, save the fear and dread of the Indians. Every settler owned one gun and one dog, at least. These were considered indispensables, for without them the wild beasts would have invaded the yards and houses of these pioneers. Each raised a patch of flax, a patch of cotton and a little corn. These were deemed necessaries. The corn was ground at Johnston's mill, on Sandy, or at Wideman's mill, on Big River, and very often it was beaten into a coarse meal by pestles in a mortar. It is a fact well known that from the first settlement of this county, in 1774, to 1808 ninety-nine-hundredths of the inhabitants never saw or tasted wheat bread. They manufactured all their own clothes out of the skins of wild animals and out of flax and cotton. The old-fashioned loom and the big and little spinning wheels were common furniture in most of the houses. These machines were manufactured by the men, and the women knew how to use them. The men wore buckskin suits and coon or fox-skin caps in winter, and suits made from flax or cotton and straw hats in the summer. The shoes were made of buckskin tops and rawhide soles. These were called shoe packs or moccasins. The women wore home-made cotton goods, and there was great rivalry between the ladies of those days in regard to getting up new and beautiful patterns of checked and striped cotton dress goods. All the sugar then used was made at home, out of the sap of the maple or sugar trees, and coffee, being a foreign article, was so costly that the first settlers could not afford that luxury. Venison, bear meat, wild turkeys and wild honey abounded in great abundance, and those who had cows to produce milk really lived in "a land flowing with milk and honey." Bee trees filled with honey could be found everywhere, and the honey cost only the labor of getting it. Wild game was so abundant that the early settlers kept their families well supplied with it. With these meats, wild honey, wild fruits, and plenty of "hoe-cakes," the pioneer housewife could set a table "good enough for a king."
Public Lands and Land Entries.--When Spain relinquished her right to the territory the settler's privilege of securing a farm and home under her homestead rules was cut off; and from that time forward until 1821 the settlers could obtain no title to their lands, but were protected by squatter sovereignty or settlement rights. All the lands embraced in Jefferson County were included in the St. Louis Land District, with the land office at St. Louis, where they first became subject to entry in 1821, after the United States surveys had been completed. Following is a statement showing when and by whom the first land entries under the Government of the United States were made in each congressional township of Jefferson County.
Township 41, Range 2, in 1835, by Merideth Wideman.
Township 42, Range 2, in 1832, by Samuel Pepper.
Township 39, Range 3, in 1821, by L. P. Boyd, John Thurmond, Philip O'Harver, William Mothershead and others.
Township 40, Range 3, in 1821, by Daniel Eastwood, Joseph Boring and John Willey.
Township 41, Range 3, in 1821, by John Wideman, Thomas Evans, Isaac Evans, James Pound, James McCulloch, William Ryan and others.
Township 42, Range 3, in 1821, by Polly Everat; 1831, by Peter Sullens; 1832, by Abraham and Samuel Hilderbrand.
Township 43, Range 3, in 1821 by James Green and Joel Lasseter.
Township 38, Range 4, in 1821, by William Jones, and in 1822, by Joseph Moon.
Township 39, Range 4, in 1821 by Samuel Staples, Eliel Conner, Matthew McPeak and James Donnell, and in 1823, by Charles Staples, Ammon Knighton and Samuel McMullin.
Township 40, Range 4, in 1824, by Samuel Woodson; in 1833, by James Kite; in 1836, by Ammon Knighton, W. A. Mothershead and Edward Cotter.
Township 41, Range 4, in 1821, by John Herrington; in 1823, by Richard Huskey; in 1825 by Clement B. Fletcher and John Huskey.
Township 42, Range 4, in 1821, by Samuel Graham; in 1825, by Jacob Harness and Chauncey Smith.
Township 43, Range 4, in 1821, by Jacob Shultz and David Hilderbrand.
Township 38, Range 5, in 1824, by the Valles and Dennis O'Neil and others.
Township 39, Range 5, in 1821, by Drury Gooch; in 1823, by Reuben Smith; in 1824, by Ed. Butler and John Brooks.
Township 40, Range 5, in 1821 by James Foster; in 1823, by William Howerstic; in 1824 by Giles Lee.
Township 41, Range 5, in 1821 by Walter Frazer; in 1822, by Jabez Warner and Chauncey Smith; in 1825, by John W. Honey and Elias Bates.
Township 42, Range 5, in 1825, by Michael Brindley; in 1826 by William McMillon (?) and S Burgess.
Township 43, Range 5, in 1830, by E. Cadwallader; in 1833, by John Richardson.
Township 39, Range 6, in 1829, by Frederick Kluck; in 1832, by Henry Bailey, Joseph Drybread and Joseph T. McMullin.
Township 40, Range 6, in 1824, numerous tracts by John Smith T., of Washington County; in 1826, Abraham Wilcox and James M. White.
Township 41, Range 6, in 1821 by John Geiger, Francis Menia, John W. Honey and Elias Bates.
Township 42, Range 6, in 1831, Hez. H. Wright and David Bryant.
Township 39, Range 7, in 1829, by John B Denham.
With a very few exceptions, the persons named in the foregoing statement of land entries were actual settlers of Jefferson County.
Jefferson County was organized by an act of the Legislature of the Territory of Missouri, approved December 8, 1818, as may be seen by the first section, thereof, which read as follows:
Section 1. All that part of the county of St. Louis, and all that part of the county of Ste. Genevieve, bounded as follows, to wit: Beginning at a point in the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi River opposite the mouth of a creek on the west bank of said river called Isle au Bois; thence to the mouth of said creek, and up the principal northern branch thereof to its source; thence in a direct line to the source of a creek known by the name of Hazel Run; thence in a direct line so as to leave Dogget's Mines, in the county of Ste. Genevieve, to Grand River; thence down the said river to the mouth of the creek called Mineral Fork; thence with the county line between the counties of St. Louis and Washington to that point where said county line changes its course to the southwest; thence from that point to the corner of townships 42 and 43 in Range 2, and Townships 42 and 43 in Range 3 east of the fifth principal meridian; thence with the range line between Ranges 2 and 3 east of the fifth principal meridian to a point in the middle of the main channel of the Meramec; thence down the middle of the main channel of said river to a point at where the township line between Townships 43 and 44 north crosses the said river; thence due east with the said township line to a point in the middle of the main channel of said river Meramec; thence down the said river, in the middle of the main channel thereof, to a point opposite the mouth of the said river Meramec, in the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi River; thence down the middle of the main channel of said river to the beginning, is hereby laid off and erected into a separate county, which shall be called and known by the name of Jefferson County.
L. B. Boyd, Thomas Evans, Jacob Wise, William Bates, William Null, Peter McCormack and Henry Metz were appointed by this act commissioners, with full power and authority to select and fix upon the most suitable place in the county whereupon to erect a courthouse and jail; and it was declared that the place agreed upon by them, or a majority of them, should be the permanent seat of justice for Jefferson County. The same commissioners were appointed commissioners of the courthouse and jail, with authority to purchase or otherwise acquire title in fee simple to a suitable tract of land on which to erect said buildings. They were fully authorized to sell town lots, and appropriate the proceeds derived therefrom to the construction of the public buildings. In case of any of the offices of the above named commissioners becoming vacant, it was made the duty of the circuit court to fill such vacancies by appointment. The act also provided that the first court should be held at Herculaneum, and afterward at such places as the court might select until a courthouse could be constructed, and that the county should belong to the Northern Judicial Circuit. Although the county of Jefferson was thus created December 8, 1818, it was not invested with full powers as a separate county until after January 1, 1819.
Some slight but no extensive changes have been made in the boundary lines of Jefferson County since its organization. The laws of 1870 give a more definite description of the boundary, but make so little change in the original that it is not necessary to insert the new description here.
Following is a copy of the caption of the record of proceedings of the first court held in Jefferson County:
MISSOURI TERRITORY, ) ss
NORTHERN CIRCUIT. )
At a court held in the county of Jefferson, in the town of Herculaneum, on Monday, the twenty-second day of March, one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, being the fourth Monday of said month--present, Nathaniel Beverly Tucker, judge of the courts of the Northern Circuit.
The court being convened, Samuel Woodson and Andrew Scott presented their commissions from Frederick Bates, acting governor of Missouri Territory, the former as clerk, and the latter as sheriff of Jefferson County, and at once assumed the duties of their respective offices. Joshua Barton, circuit attorney for the Northern Circuit, not being present, Edward Bates was recognized as his deputy, and thus the court was fully organized. William Bates, Peter McCormack, Thomas Evans, Henry Metz, Jacob Wise and William Null, six of the commissioners appointed by law to select the site for the county seat, then presented to the Court their written report, fixing the town of Herculaneum as the permanent seat of justice for the county of Jefferson. These commissioners then resigned their office, and the Court appointed James Rankin, John Geiger and John Finley as county seat commissioners in their stead. At the same time James Rankin was appointed surveyor of the county. Elisha Ellis was authorized, upon the payment of $10, to keep a ferry across the Mississippi for one year, at his landing, opposite the town of Harrison, and his charges for ferriage were established as follows: Each man and horse, |
