1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7

Alphabetical Index
 

Allen Jameson, Armstrong Kennedy, Abraham Kennedy, David Keller, Joseph King, James Knox, senior and junior, David W. McFarlan, Thomas Mann, Jonathan D. Morris, Hiram Millsap, John Null, David Pressley, Jehu Piles, John Parkinson, Philander Powers, Elisha Perkins, Jesse Perkins, Nathan Ramy, Bethuel Riggs, Jonathan Riggs, Shapley Ross, Mervin Ross, William H. Robinson, John M. Seymour, James Stanley, John Shrum, Nicholas Shrum, John Thurman, John Talbot, Winslow Turner, senior and junior, Miles Turner, Elias Turner, John Ward, John Waggoner, Alembe Williams, Levin Williams, Thos. Williams, James Williams, Morgan Wright, Zadock Woods, G.W. Zimmerman, Conrad Yater, Peter Yater, J.M. Zimmerman.  In Union township: Hugh Barnett, John Cantriel, James Cantriel, Meredith Cox, John Cox, Adam Coose, Daniel Draper, Richard Fenton, James Galloway, senior and junior, William N. Galloway, Charles Galloway, John Gililland, Matthias Gililland, Samuel Gibson, James Gibson, Guian Gibson, Isaac Hudson, John Hudson, Thomas Hudson, Brice Hammock, Martin Hammock, Thomas Hammond, William Harris, Joseph Howdeshell, John Howdeshell, Robert Jameson,senior and junior, George W. Jameson, Samuel Lewis, James Lewis, Robert McNair, Joseph McCoy, David Merikle, Thomas Merikle, Quinten Moore, Thomas Moore, William Moore, David Porter, Samuel Smiley, Joseph Sitton, senior and junior, Philip Sitton, William Sitton, Lawrence B. Sitton, Guian Sitton, James Shaw, William Trail, Nicholas Wells, Stacy Wells, Josiah Wilson.  In Hurricane: Benjamin Allen, Reuben Abbott, Benjamin Barton, Thomas Barton, William Burnes, James Burnes, Jonathan Cottle, Ezekiel Downing, David Diggs, John Ezell, Samuel  Gladney, John Galloway, Peter Galloway, senior and junior, Samuel Galloway, William Galloway, William Hammock, Elijah Myers, John Sapp, Jessee Sitton, Jehu L. Sitton, James Sconce, Samuel Sconce, George Turnbaugh, Daniel Van Burklon, Edward Wiatt, David Wilson, Francis Withington.  In Monroe: David Bailey, Samuel Bailey, Ira Cottle, Almond Cottle, Zachariah Callaway, Ezekiel Dunning, Abijah M. Highsmith, David Lard, John Lindsey, Otis Peck, James E. Paddock, Thomas Riffle, Joseph Russell, Barnabas Thornhill, James Turnbull, James Woods, Martin Woods, Allen Woolfolk, A.C. Woolfolk.  The following had no description attached to their land, and consequently it cannot be determined in which township they resided: Sylvanus Allison, Elijah Barton, Charles Broadwater, William Beatty, Joseph

{Page 34}

Barnett, James Cannon, John Cox, James Downing, John H. Downing, Silas Davis, James Early, Walter Emory, John Griffith, Andrew Gilbert, Benjamin Highsmith, William Highsmith, Lovell Harrison, William Harley, George Harley, Martin Harley, James Harley, Henry Howdeshell, Alexander Hill, Jesse Low, Andrew Love, Andrew Miller, David McCoy, William McCoy, William McLane, Reuben Nowell, Bennet Palmer, Andrew Patterson, William O. Ross, Moses Rainey, Return Strong, Samuel Sargent, Samuel Shaw, Samuel Smith, Andrew Smith, George W. Smith, Charles Stewart, Thomas Spillman, John Turnbaugh, William Talbert, Peter Teague, Rollin Teague, Isaac Thurman, Joseph Thurman, Kesiah Woods, John Walker, Jacob Williamson, Thomas Wells, Severn Wallace, James Wilson and John Wilson.  Of these Levi Brown and Jacob Groshong still live in the county.  It is believed that they are the only survivors of the above list.  The list altogether with the widows and the estates of deceased persons made the number two hundred and seventy-six tax payers.  The tax averaged a fraction over ninety-five cents each, and ranged from two and a half cents to twelve dollars, forty-one and one-fourth cents, the latter being the amount paid by Shapley Ross, the largest resident taxpayer in the county.  He was assessed with five hundred and four acres of land, on which stood a grist and saw mill, (in Moscow,) thirty-nine town lots, seventeen slaves, twelve horses, eighteen cattle and one watch, valued in the aggregate at $9860.00.  Ross was also the largest slaveholder. Meredith Cox had ten, and Malcolm Henry, Sr. had eight; after these the largest number was five.  There were two hundred and forty-two slaves and one free black in the county.  There were four hundred and sixty-six horses and eight hundred and forty-five cattle; no other personal property than mentioned above was listed Besides Ross’s mill, Ira and Almond Cottle owned a mill on Cuivre, point not stated, valued at $1400.00; Joseph Cottle had a horse mill in Troy valued at $400.00;  and Meredith Cox had a horse-mill where Louisville now stands, valued at $200.00. Major Christopher Clark had a distillery valued at $600.00, and Jacob Groshong had one valued at $200.00. EzekielDunning had a tanyard valued at $100.00.  The non-resident tax list numbered forty-seven taxpayers, of whom Auguste Chouteau paid the largest tax, $48.40 on 25,256 acres of land, valued at $39,128.00.  The non-resident list included the names of Thacker Vivion, Nathaniel Simonds, John Ruland, George Collier and others who had been residents, and some of whom were again afterward resident.
 The roll of attorneys, signed by themselves in Book A, Circuit Court Records, dating from June, 1827, to September, 1839, is as follows:  Ezra Hunt, William

{Page 35}

Smith, Charles S. Hempstead, John C. Naylor, William Young, Charles Wheeler, George Shannon, Alfred W. Carr, John B. Gordon, Thomas A. Young, Francis K. Buford, L. Rogers, Adam B. Chambers, Carty Wells, Samuel Moore, Thomas L. Anderson, John Anderson, William M. Campbell, Albert G. Harrison, Foster P. Wright, Thomas W. Cunningham, James F. Moore, William Porter, John Jameson, Henry L. Geyer, Bryan Mullauphy, David Barton, George W. Huston, Joseph B. Wells, Beverly Allen, Uriel Wright, Wilson Primm, Alonzo W. Manning, Alexander Hamilton, Gilchrist Porter, Henry Cave, Aylett H. Buckner, A. Backus Bacon and Victor Monroe. Edward Bates, who practised in this court during that period and since, neglected to sign the roll. David Barton and Henry L. Geyer were senators, and Albert G. Harrison, John Jamison, Gilchrist Porter, Thomas L. Anderson and Aylett H. Buckner representatives in Congress.  The list contains other names of national reputation.
 There were several revolutionary soldiers among the early settlers of this county.  Of these the names of Noah Rector, Isaac Hudson, John Chambers, John Barco and Alembe Williams are know to the writer.  Noah Rector died near Millwood about 1849 at the age of one hundred and two years.Isaac Hudson was born in North Carolina, and after the war lived in Washington county, Georgia, until 1799; he then went to South Carolina, and in 1804 moved to that part of Logan that is now included in Simpson county, Kentucky;  in June, 1819, he came with his wife and four sons, John, Thomas, William and Charles, to this county and settled in what is now Ninevah township.  He died many years ago at an advanced age.  He was a blacksmith and farmer and was much respected for his strict honesty. John Chambers was born in 1740.  In 1778 he enlisted in Capt. Alexander Cummin’s company of the Fourteenth Virginia regiment, and was in the battle of Monmouth.  He died in Clark township in 1844 or 1845. John Barco was born in 1744; enlisted May 24,1777, in Camden county, North Carolina, as a drummer in Captain Dempsey Gregory’s company of the Tenth North Carolina Infantry, Col. Shepherdcommanding; was at Valley Forge and West Point;  in 1779 was sent to Charleston with his command and assigned to Gen. Lincoln;  surrendered with the other forces to the British May 12,1780, and put on board a prison ship where he remained five months.  A short time after exchange he was mustered out of service at Richmond, Virginia.  Alembe Williams was born in 1757; he enlisted from Guilford county, North Carolina, June 10,1781, in Capt. Moore’s company of the First North Carolina Infantry, commanded by Major Armstrong.  He was afterwards in Capt. Michael Randolph’s company, in Col. Henry Lee’s legion.  He was

{Page 36}

He was present in several battles and at the storming of several forts.  He received his discharge from Gen. Nathaniel Green.
     This county has had two State officers.  Nathaniel Simonds, grandfather of Nathaniel Simonds, of Troy, was State Treasurer, when that office was the franchise of the legislature.  He held the position several years, and was in office when the seat of government was removed from St. Charles to Jefferson City.  There is a voucher on file in the Probate Court, being a receipt from him under the date of November 30,1826, showing that William R. Gilbert, guardian of the children of John Ewing, deceased, had paid into the State treasury fifty cents scrip and twelve and a half cents in lawful money of the United States, as tax on a certain piece of land belonging to the children.  George W. Huston was elected Register of Lands in 1856, and held the office four years.
     This county has had but one candidate for Congress.  In 1854 Tully R. Cornick, Democrat, ran against Gilchrist Porter, Whig.  The district had a considerable Whig majority, and Mr. Cornick was beaten twelve hundred and eighty-two votes, receiving a majority in only Lincoln, Pike and Warren out of the eleven counties.
 Col. Daniel M. Boone, son of the famous Daniel Boone, made most of the United States government surveys in this county.
 The first letters of administration granted in this county were taken out by D. Benajah English, on the estate of Daniel Epps, May 10,1819.  The first guardian was James Murdock appointed to the heirs of William Lynn, April 3,1820.  Lynn was killed by the Indians, as stated elsewhere, in 1814, and Murdock married his widow.
     At the county court term of April, 1821, Bennet Palmer made application for a “lisance to keep a ferry across the River aux Cuivre, opposite the town of Monroe,” which was granted upon his paying two dollars.  This is the first recorded license to run a ferry.
     The first divorce granted in this county was that of Samuel Smiley vs. Elizabeth Smiley, October 3,1828; cause desertion, divorce mutual.
     The first foreigner naturalized in this county was Eleazer Block, a native of Bohemia, February 6,1827.
     The first raft of logs taken out of Cuivre was by Lewis Castleman and Harrison Munday, in 1828, started half a mile above Chain of Rocks.  This has since grown to be a considerable business.
     An agricultural and mechanical society was originated in 1855.  Its officers were Major Geo. W. Huston, president; Dr. F. G. Gilmer, vice president; S.R. Woolfolk, treasurer;  C.W. Parker, corresponding secretary;  and A. V. McKee

{Page 37}

recording secretary.  The directors were Talbot Bragg, senior, General David Stewart, Joel Blanks, Raleigh Mayes, Tully R. Cornick, Jesse Orear, Joseph M. Healy, Geo. W. Porter, Col. David Bailey and Andrew Cochran, held a fair commencing October 1,1856.
     The present court-house was built in 1870, by Edwards & Griffith, at a cost of $27,447.50.  At a special term of the county court, November 10,1870, Judge E.N. Bonfils, the commissioner, reported it completed according to contract and it was inspected by the court.  The court-house it displaced, a plain, square, brick building, stood on the same ground, and was built in 1830 by Col. David Bailey.
     The present jail was built by P.J. Pauly & Bro., of St. Louis, at a cost of $7500.00.  It was finished November, 1876. Col. T.G. Hutt was the commissioner.  The previous jail was built in 1840 by John A. Woolfolk at a cost of $3536.75.  John Chandler was the commissioner.
     The Farmers’ and Mechanics’ Savings Bank was organized May 21,1873, and did not suspend during the panic, but has always maintained an excellent credit.  The president is Walton Perkins, a gentleman of known integrity and ability in business.  He was born in Lincoln county, North Carolina, November, 1807, came to this county with his father December 25,1819.  He married Miss Louisiana Green in 1834.  He has one son, Henry W. Perkins, the present cashier of the bank.

     During the years, 1843,1844, 1845, there raged in this county what was known as the “Slicker” war.  The term originated elsewhere, probably in Benton county about the year 1841, and came from the peculiar mode of punishment inflicted by the regulators--whipping with hickory withes, or “slicking,” as the backwood parlance of that day termed it.  An organized band of counterfeiters and horse and cattle thieves existed in many counties of this and other Western States, and about the period mentioned above, the people of the eastern part of the county found it necessary to organize for the protection of their property, and extensive were the depredations.  It has been said that the parties who operated in this county sold twelve hundred horses, during a single season, at one sale stable in St. Louis.  Of course not all these were taken from this county.  Their operations in beef cattle were on as large a scale.  Sometimes the thieves would be taken with the stolen property in their possession, but would always manage to have enough convenient witnesses on hand to secure acquittal, and would march off with the stock before its owner’s eyes.  This aroused the greatest indignation which was heightened by the fact that the prevalence of counterfeit money, both metal

{Page 38}

and paper, seriously affected the transaction of business.  A company of regulators was organized with James Stallard, of Hurricane township, as captain.  Some of the very best men of the eastern half of the county went into it. Brice Hammock drew up its constitution and by-laws.  Had the spirit of these been strictly followed, some bloodshed and much ill-feeling might have been avoided.  Some inexcusable excesses were committed, partly the result of the excitement of the times, but more from the fact that a few unprincipled men took the opportunity, either as active members of the organization or as pretended friends, to settle personal grudges.  When the evidence against a suspected person became satisfactory to the regulators, such a person was either “slicked” or ordered to leave the county by a given date, or both;  and the penalty for a refusal or a failure to leave was either “slicking” or death, according to the merits of the case.  The principals all fled the county.  John Plummer, who was notified to leave and was preparing to do so, went to Troy on the very day on which his period expired, and on the way home was shot and killed, it probably not having been known that he intended to leave.  Several, against whom the suspicion was not very strong, had their time extended, by reason of sickness in family or other sufficient causes. James Turnbull refused point blank to leave.  Turnbull was a very peculiar man, but at this day nobody doubts that he was honest.  The cause of suspicion against him was that a notorious thief and counterfeiter, Hal Grammar, was intimate with his son Ezekiel and used sometimes to stop at his house.  It is not thought that Turnbull was aware of Grammar’s real character. Turnbull lived on Bob’s creek, in section thirty-two, township forty-nine, range two east, on land that he bought in 1840 from Dominique Francois Burthe, of New Orleans, and Marguerette Susanne Delor Sarpy Burthe, widow of the Baron Andre Burth d’Anelet, of Paris, France.  The house was a solid log structure, and was generally called Turnbull’s fort.  When the “slickers” came to enforce their demands, Turnbull and one of his daughters went out to dissuade them from their purpose, declaring the innocence of the family.  The conference was unavailing, and the one side prepared for attack and the other for defence.  It is not now known who commanded the attacking party, nor how many were present.  Some random firing was done on both sides, and the “slickers” attempted, but unsuccessfully, to fire on the house.  It was then determined to make an assault batter down the door and make short work of the matter. Malachi Davis was the first man to enter, he received a bullet in the bowels from the effects of which he died the next day.  John Davis, his brother, rushed forward, thrust his pistol under the chin of James Turnbull, Jr. and fired.  The latter fell apparently dead, but finally recovered, except a partial paralysis which rendered him an invalid for life.  Davis then raised his rifle and put a ball into the hip of Squire Turnbull, which caused his death some weeks afterwards. Washington

{Page 39}

Norwell came in by the side of John Davis.  As he crossed the threshold, one of Turnbull’s girls cleaved his skull with a cornknife.  The wound was about six inches long, and extended an inch down the forehead, penetrating the brain and involving a considerable loss of its substance.  Norwell fully recovered; he died a few years ago.  The “slickers” retired without accomplishing anything further.  This affair caused great excitement, and a company of “anti-slicker” was organized the next day in the vicinity of Flint Hill, and maintained guards and pickets on the fords of Cuivre.  On one occasion the “slickers” gathered in force to drive them from this county, and made a rapid march to where the “anties” were supposed to be, but arrived an hour too late.  One evening Joseph L. Woodson and James Burdyne were coming from Troy, and just opposite Mont. Cottle’s, Burdyne a few feet behind, sitting sideways, was telling about a game of poker that he had gotten into that day:  “I had,” said he, “three jacks and a pair of aces, and” --when the report of fire arms rang out, and the blaze from the guns was seen in the bushes on the side of the road.  Neither was hurt, but they quickened their pace considerably, and the luck of the three jacks and pair of aces was never told.  After riding a hundred yards, Burdyne remembered that he had a horseman's pistol, and proposed to go back and “give em a shot,” but he was overruled.  That same evening Williams Holmes and his brother were riding into the gate of their uncle, Levi Bailey, when they were fired upon by two men, one ball wounding a horse and one penetrating the clothes of the other rider.  Some time after this James Shelton, who had been captain of the “anti-slickers,” was in Chain of Rocks, and as he was crossing the river in a skiff had his arm fractured by a shot from the bank.  When the legitimate purpose for which the regulators had been formed was accomplished, the organization was disbanded, but it was a long time before the animosities engendered by the civil strife died out.

 The people of this county were profoundly interested in the stirring political events that followed the presidential campaign of 1860.  Their sympathies were largely with the South, and when Governor Jackson issued his proclamation calling for volunteers to defend the State against the invasion of the Federal troops, no county responded more enthusiastically and more freely in proportion to population than did Lincoln.  Her soldiers were in every considerable battle fought in the State.  They were in the first great battle, Springfield, in a regiment that went into action with two hundred and thirty-two men, killed the Federal commander, and almost unaided drove back two of the finest regiments of the opposing army, and answered roll-call next morning with one hundred and five men, and not one missing, having suffered the severest loss of the army.

{Page 40}

The same bravery and patriotic enthusiasm were shown by them on a hundred battle fields, ending at Blakely on Mobile bay, where the last gun of the war was fired, and by Lincoln county men under command of Lieut.-Colonel Carter who kept up the battle for more than one hour after the last Confederate flag had been furled for the last time.  If the career of the Lincoln county soldiers who entered the Federal army was far less brilliant from force of circumstance, it was no less honorable and patriotic.  They fought over nearly the same ground as did their brothers on the other side, and they were ever distinguished for bravery, a strict obedience to discipline and a heroic devotion to the cause for which they contended.  Further than this, which is only a just tribute to the brave men who fought on either side for their convictions of right, I shall not speak.  The event itself with its bitter hatreds and prejudices, is too recent and its memories too vivid to detail here the many tragic deeds that were enacted in our midst during the unhappy struggle.

     The following is as complete a list of county officials with dates of service as could be obtained by reference to election returns, records of commissions and other sources, without an exhaustive search of the entire recorded minutes of the court-- a work that would require many weeks’ time:
     State Senators--1824, Cary K. Duncan;1834, Hans Smith; 1838, Henry Watts; 1840, James Finley; 1848, Richard H. Woolfolk; 1856, M.H. McFarland; all these served four years except Henry Watts who died in office, and James Finley who filled the unexpired term.
     Representatives-- 1818, Christopher Clark; 1820, Morgan Wright; 1822, Philip Sitton; 1824, John Ruland; 1826, Philip Sitton; 1828, Elijah Collard; 1830, Hans Smith; 1832, Hans Smith; 1834, Henry Watts and John S. Besser; 1836, Henry Watts and Richard H. Woolfolk; 1838, Geo. W. Huston and Enoch Emerson; 1840, Hans Smith and Carty Wells; 1842, Geo. W. Huston; 1844, James Finley; 1846, David Stewart; 1848, Richard Wommack; 1850, Charles M. Porter and Alexander Reid; the latter died during the session of the legislature, and January 27,1851, Tully R. Cornick was elected to fill the vacancy; 1852, James H. Brittonand Increase Adams; 1854, James H. Britton and M.H. McFarland; 1856, Richard Wommack and John Snethen; 1858, Richard Wommack; 1860, James W. Welch; 1862, Richard Wommack; 1864, Joseph W. Sitton; 1866, Richard Wommack; 1868, Richard Gladney; 1870, Thomas G. Hutt; 1872, E.B. Hull;

{Page 41}

1874, Wm. H. Priest; 1876, W.E. Brown.
     Members of Constitutional Conventions-- 1820, Malcolm Henry, Sr.; 1845, for this convention, ThomasW. Hutt of this county, and Edwin D. Bevitt, of St. Charles, Democrats, ran against Charles Wheeler, of this county, and J.D. Coalter, of St. Charles, Whigs; Bevitt and Coalter were elected; the Constitution framed by the convention was submitted to the people and rejected; 1864, Alexander H. Martin; 1875, A.V. McKee.
     Circuit Judge-- 1851 to 1857, Carty Wells.
     Circuit Clerks-- John Ruland from April 1,1819 to December 21,1820; Bennet Palmer to his death, August, 1821; John Ruland to April 2,1822; Francis Parker to January 1,1848; Thomas G. Hutt to January 1,1854; Alexander H. Martin to his resignation in 1869; William Colbert, present incumbent.
     Prosecuting Attorney-- 1872, Benjamin W. Wheeler; 1874, Josiah Creed; 1876, George T. Dunn.
     County Court Justices-- No dates are given in consequence of several changes in method of appointment and tenure of office.  The following are the names of all who sat upon the county bench, except for a short time when the office was abolished by law and the place supplied by the justices of the peace in the county, or a majority of them, in a body, assembled at the court house; several of those named below held the office two or more terms; Ira Cottle, Jonathan Riggs, John Geiger, Benjamin Cottle, James Duncan, John Lindsey, Gabriel P. Nash, Joseph H. Allen, Henry Watts, Charles Wheeler, Caleb McFarland, John S. Besser, George W. Zimmerman, William Young, Brice W. Hammock, Richard H. Woolfolk, Lewis Castleman, Solomon R. Moxley, Thomas W. Hutt, Charles Ferry, James Wilson, Charles W. Martin, Milton L. Lovell, John South, William W. Shaw, Samuel T. Ingraham, Alexander K. Wilson, Levi Bickel, present incumbents, Henry T. Mudd, Horatio N. Baskett, and N.D. Trescott.
     County Clerks-- Bennet Palmer from November 28,1820, to his death August, 1821; Francis Parker, September 6,1821, to January 1,1854; N. Hunter Meriwether, to his death March, 1857; James A. Ward, to January 1,1858; Francis C. Cake, to January 1,1875; William A. Woodson, present incumbent.
     Probate Judges-- 1825, Gabriel P. Nash, appointed for four years by the governor; before that time and since, till 1871, the county court exercised probate jurisdiction; 1871, Solomon R. Moxley; 1875, Eugene N. Bonfils, present incumbent.
     Sheriffs--1819, David Bailey, two terms; 1823, Jonathan Riggs, two terms; 1827, Robert Stewart, two terms; 1831, Henry Watts, two terms;

{Page 42}

1835, William Sitton; 1837, Valentine J. Peers; 1839, William Sitton, two terms; 1843, Richard Wommack, two terms; 1847, Henry T. Mudd; 1849, Joel Blanks; 1859, Peachy G. Shelton; 1861, Elias Norton; 1863, John R. Knox, two terms; 1867, Shapleigh R. Woolfolk, two terms; 1871, Frederick Wing; 1873, Thomas M. Carter, two terms; 1877 James C. Elmore.
     Collectors-- Previous to 1873 the Sheriff was ex-officio collector of State and county revenue; 1873, William W. Shaw; 1875, Peachy G. Shelton, two terms, present incumbent.
     Assessors-- 1835, Philip Sitton, two terms; 1839, Richard Wommack; 1841, William Jameson; 1842, Henry T. Mudd, two terms; 1846, Edward J. Peers; 1848, Joseph W. Sitton; 1850, Morgan Wright; 1852, Alexander H. Martin, resigned after one year’s assessment and Richard Wells appointed; 1854, John M. Reed, two terms; 1858, the county divided into four districts, and William Miller, William T. Wilson, William H. Martin and Richard Wommack, appointed by the county court; 1860, Joseph S. Gear; 1862, David B. Smiley, two terms; 1866, James K. Cannon; 1868, Norman Porter; 1870, Elijah Myers, two terms; 1874, John Wilson, elected second time, died June 1877, and David C. Downing, present incumbent, appointed by the court.
     Treasurers-- Previous to 1856, Charles Wheeler; 1858, S.R. Woolfolk, four terms; 1866, Frederick Wing; 1868, James D. Shelton; 1870, James K. Cannon; 1872, John McDonald, three terms, present incumbent.
     Public Administrators-- Made elective by the legislature in 1858; Eugene N. Bonfils, two terms; 1862, Samuel Howell; 1864, Robert H. Hudson; 1866, J.B. Allen; 1868, Elbridge G. Sitton, term changed to four years; 1872, Josiah Creech; 1876, Jeptha Wells.
     School Commissioners-- 1853, Wm. Young; 1854, A.V. McKee; 1857, Francis C. Cake; 1860, John R. Knox; 1861, Francis C. Cake; 1866,James M. McLellan; 1871, William S. Pennington; 1873, John Wilson; 1875, James M. McLellan, re-elected, present incumbent.
     Coroners-- 1820, Barnabas Thornhill; 1822, Jehu L. Sitton; 1824, John Parkinson; 1826, John Chandler; 1828, Thomas Armstrong; 1830, Bluford Stone; 1832, John B. Stone, two terms; 1836, Joseph B. Kelsick; 1838, Barnabas Thornhill; 1840, Alexander Wilson; 1842, Baldwin D. Talliafero, two terms; 1846, William Murphy; 1848, William A. Satlee; 1850, Samuel Barker; 1852, Jordan S. Satlee; 1854, Joseph Chandler; 1856, J.B. Campbell; 1870, R.A. Nurnelly; 1874, George W. Elder; 1876, Robert L. Robinson.

{Page 43}

    Below are given a few particulars concerning the officials named above.  They comprise all that could be ascertained in the very limited time at my command.
     Increase Adams came from Maine.  He conducted a mercantile business several years in Louisville, and left this county in 1860 to reside in Mexico, Audrain county, where he died June 5,1874, aged about sixty-five years.
     Joseph Benson Allen was born in Truxton, this county, December 12,1841; commenced the practice of law in 1860; served in the Eighth Illinois volunteers during the war; married Miss Kate Baker, March 24,1870.
     Thomas Armstrong was one of the pioneer settlers; he was a preacher; he went to Texas many years ago.
     Joel Blanks was born in Pittsylvania county, Virginia, February 27,1800; married Miss Nancy Compton, January 4,1827, and came to this county in 1831; he had five daughters and one son, of whom four daughters survive.  He died February 25,1875, at the residence of his daughter Mrs.Witcher, in Monroe township, after a protracted illness from pneumonia.
     Eugene Napoleon Bonfils was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, October 13,1829; moved to St. Louis, July, 1842; to Lexington, Kentucky, in 1846; graduated at Transylvania University, July, 1849; came the following month to St. Louis county where he taught school; came to Troy in May, 1852, and commenced the practice of law.  He married Miss Henrietta B. Lewis, youngest daughter of the late Thomas M. Lewis, of this county, and formerly of Charlottesville, Virginia; has eight children, of whom six survive.  Besides offices named above, was probate clerk for four years preceding his election as judge, and has held several positions of trust.
    James H. Britton was born in Page county, Virginia, July 11,1817.  His early training was in the mercantile business.  He married in 1838; came to Troy in 1840 and commenced business.  Besides the office named above, he was county treasurer several times by appointment, and for a time postmaster at Troy; in 1848 he was secretary of the State Senate, and during the session of 1856-7 was chief clerk of the House of Representatives.  In 1857 he was appointed cashier of the Southern Bank of St. Louis and moved to that city; in 1864 he was elected its president.  He has held several other positions of trust, among them the office of president of the Life Association of America, and that of treasurer of the Illinois and St. Louis Bridge Company.  His father, a veteran of the war of 1812, lives in this county.
     Warner Edward Brown was born in Union county, Arkansas, February 6,1847; came to Wentzville in 1856; served in Confederate army the latter part of the war.  He graduated in medicine at Washington University, Baltimore, February 22,1870, and located at Chain of Rocks.  He married Miss Medora Anderson,

{Page 44}

October 6,1871, and has three children.  He abandoned the practice of medicine a few years ago and has since been farming.  He was commissioner of the Chain of Rocks bridge, and the principal originator of the project.
     Francis C. Cake was born in Deerfield, Cumberland county, New Jersey, November 9,1820; came to Troy October 16,1840, and engaged in mercantile business till 1849.  April 12th of that year he started to California by way of the plains; prospected from Nelson creek in the northern mines to Sonora in the southern; was in Sacramento before there was a frame house erected in the city.  He returned to Troy by way of Panama and New York.  He married May 15,1845, Miss Rebecca A. Woolfolk, daughter of John A. Woolfolk, who lived only sixteen months.  August 14,1855, he married Miss Mary E. Myers, daughter of the late George Myers, of St. Charles county, by whom he has three sons living.  In 1857 he was appointed on the staff of Gov. Robert M. Stewart, with the rank of colonel.
     Thomas Miller Carter was born in Pittsylvania county, Virginia, May 7,1826; came to Lincoln county, September, 1830.  He was in the army eighteen months during the Mexican war.  November 29,1855, he married Miss Alabama Henry, grand-daughter of Malcolm Henry, who helped to form our first State constitution; has had six children, of whom four survive.  Served throughout the war in the Confederate army in the Second Missouri Infantry, which was in active and hard service from the taking of Lexington till the last flag of the Confederate States was hauled down at Blakely.  After the siege of Vicksburg he was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of his regiment-- a just recognition of his gallantry and efficiency.
     William Colbert was born in this county June 22,1827.  His parents came the previous year from Allen county, Kentucky.  He married Miss Margaret Broom, of this county, January 2,1848, by whom he had seven children.  Some years after her death he married, March 22,1867, Miss Mary Dregay, of St. Louis county, by whom he had four children; has ten children living.  Served in Federal army during the war as captain of Company A, Forty-ninth regiment Missouri volunteers, infantry, which made an honorable name for itself in the arduous campaigns through Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama.
     Elijah Collard, one of the early pioneers, came from Kentucky.  He was a ranger during the war of 1812; he went to Texas many years ago.  He was a great-uncle to John R. Knox.
     Josiah Creech was born in Monroe township, in this county, December 26,1844; commenced the practice of law in Troy in 1871, married in St. Louis June 1,1875, Miss Marie B. Brevator, of that city.
     George Thomas Dunn was born in Callaway county, March 26,1840;

{Page 45}

came to this county in 1865 and taught school; admitted to practice law in 1869 and settled in New Hope; now lives in Troy; was never married.
     James Calvin Elmore was born in Caswell county, North Carolina, December 8,1820; came with his parents to Pike county in 1830 and settled in this county in 1862.  Was married in 1842 to Miss Elizabeth Kerr, of Augusta county, Virginia; and a second time to Miss Lucinda Prichard of Boyle county, Kentucky.  Has had eight children, of whom five are living.
     Enoch Emerson was a native of Maryland; he was a merchant; he went to California in 1849 or 1850.
     Andrew R. Finley came from Kentucky; he went to California about seven years ago, and lives near Sacramento.
     James Finley came from Kentucky; he died a few years ago.
     Richard Gladney was a native of South Carolina, and came to this county with his parents when quite young.  He went to California in 1870, and shortly afterwards died.
     George Webb Huston was born April 18,1810 in New Market, Shenandoah county, Virginia.  He married, October 3,1833, Miss Matilda G. Arthur, by whom he had two children, both living.  Came to Troy in 1834.  Elected State register of lands in 1856 and held the office four years.  Married Miss Susan Jones in 1861; died April, 1862.
     Thomas G. Hutt was born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, May 21,1817; came to this county in 1837, and has ever since resided here.
     Thomas W. Hutt was born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, September 1798; married in 1827 Miss Ann Omohundro, who still lives; was justice of the peace, assessor and major of the militia in Virginia.  Came to this county in the fall of 1832; has five children living.
   John Robert Knox was born in this county September 16,1836; was admitted to practice of law in 1859; was married April 23,1862, and again February 26,1867, each wife being a daughter of the late Joseph Withrow.  For several years, he was engaged in banking.  He was traveling for his health the West and South for about three years prior to his death, which occurred in Austin, Texas, May 3,1876.  He left a son and daughter.
     Charles William Martin was born in Campbell county, Virginia, September 29, 1810; married Miss Nancy Dews, of Pittsylvania county in 1835, by whom had two daughters and one son, and who died in 1841.  He came to this county in 1838, and in 1843 married Miss Mahala A. Howdeshell, by whom he had two sons and one daughter; all his children are living.  He is a prosperous farmer, and an

{Page 46}

honest upright citizen.
     John McDonald was born in St. Louis county, January 25,1825, the fourth son of James A. McDonald, who was born in St. Louis county in 1795, a ranger in 1812, doing service part of the war in this county, and who now resides in Texas county in this State.  He was married February 10,1849, to Miss Mary A. Link of St. Louis county, and in December,1866, to Miss Florence Brunelle, of St. Charles.  Has had ten children of whom seven survive.
     Archibald V. McKee was born in Harrison county, Kentucky, in 1831; graduated at the law school of the University of Indiana, at Bloomington, in 1854, came to Troy the same year; married Miss Clair S. Wheeler, daughter of Capt. Otis Wheeler, in 1862.  He occupies a high position at the bar.
     James Martha McLellan was born in Clay county in this State, February 22,1839; was admitted to practice law in 1860, and came to this county in October 1862.  He married Miss Martha W. Cummings, of Logansport, Indiana, October 10,1865.  He was deputy county clerk for twelve years; is secretary of, and attorney for, the Lincoln County Coal and Mining Company.
    Henry Thomas Mudd was born near Gallant Green, Charles county, Maryland, September 23,1816; married Miss Ellen Elizabeth Dyer, January 12, 1837, by whom he had nine children, of whom two survive.  Came to the county in 1839.  His wife died in 1855, and the following year he married Miss Mary O’Brien, of St. Louis, by whom he had seven children, of whom five survive.  He built in 1851 the first carding machine ever erected in the forks of Cuivre; he has been farming since 1832, and in the mercantile business in Millwood since 1853.
     Elijah Myers was born in this county July 8,1821.  His father, Elijah Myers, senior, came from Kentucky in 1818 and settled two miles west of New Hope.  He married February 20,1844, Miss Sarah Keeling, who died September 15, 1873; on March 15,1874, he married Mrs. Lizzie Lackett, who died March 9, 1878.
    Elias Norton was born in Scott county, Indiana, August 1,1820.  He came to Troy in 1842 and married Miss Mary McConnell, of Jacksonville, Illinois, November, 1844, by whom he had three children William M., Richard H., leading attorney, and Porter E., all living and residing in Troy.  He married February 8,1870, MissClara S. Williams, who only lived a few months, and March, 1872, Miss Arabella Turner, of Louisiana, Missouri, by whom he had two children, both living.  He kept for many years the Lincoln House, a famous hotel of its day; has been since a farmer and merchant, and for the past few years has, with his son William, been running the Troy Mills.

{Page 47}

     Nixon Palmer came from Gerrard county, Kentucky.  He died in 1845.
     Francis Parker was born in Windsor, Vermont, April 27,1797.  His grandfather, William Parker, came from the county of Londonderry, Ireland, about the year 1750, settled at Londonderry, New Hampshire, and served throughout the entire war of the Revolution.  His maternal grandfather, Tyler Spafford, of English descent, also served throughout the war.  His father, Henry Parker, died in 1814, and in 1817 he came to Jonesboro, Union county, Illinois, where he held several important county offices, and where he married, in 1819, Miss Catherine Clapp, by whom he had eight children, four of whom survive.  He came to this county in 1821, and married his second wife, Miss Sarah Cochran, of this county, in 1833.  By reference to the list of county officials, it will be seen that he was county clerk for thirty-two years, and circuit clerk for twenty-six years.  He died September 4,1869.  He was greatly esteemed as an honest, industrious and capable public officer, and a sincere and earnest Christian.
     John Parkinson was a native of England; he left this county many years ago and died at Galena, Illinois.
     Edward J. Peers came from Kentucky; he was a graduate of West Point and a major of militia, was the father of Hon. Charles E. Peers, of Warren county.
     Valentine J. Peers was a brother of the preceding; he married a daughter of Major Christopher Clark, and died a few years ago in St. Louis.
     J.J. Prichett was a native of Pennsylvania; he left this county about 1856 or 1857.
     Charles M. Porter was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, October 3,1813; came to this county in 1835; was never married; has always been prominent in public affairs.
     William S. Pennington was born in Warren county in 1842; served in the Third Missouri State Militia during the late war; came to this county in 1865 and married Miss Annie S. Allen; is a school teacher by profession.
     Alexander Reid came from Kentucky; he died at Jefferson City while in office, as stated elsewhere.
     James Reid was a native of Kentucky, and long a resident of this county, where he was widely known and greatly respected for his many virtues; he died in 1870.  He was the father of Capt. Thomas P. Reid, a prominent citizen in this county.
     Jonathan Riggs was a native of Campbell county, Kentucky, and the son of Rev. Bethuel Riggs, the first Baptist preacher of this county.  He came to this county in 1812 and made an honorable record during the war.  He married Miss Jane Shaw by whom he had eleven children, most of whom are still living.  After the war

{Page 48}

he settled north of the Cuivre, on the Troy and Auburn road where he died in 1834.  He was a Brigadier-general of militia.
     William Webb Shaw was born in Bedford county, Virginia, November 14, 1830; came to Pike county with his parents in 1833, and to Lincoln in 1847; married Miss Mary Jane Stewart, daughter of Gen. David Stewart, July 1850; by whom he had eight children, all living.  He was ousted from the office of county judge in 1861 for refusal to take the iron clad oath.  He is a prosperous farmer.
     James David Shelton was born in Pittsylvania county, Virginia, June 11,1816; came to this county November, 1829; in 1845 married Miss Mary Erwin, of this county, by whom he had three children, all living.
     Peachy G. Shelton was born in Pittsylvania county, Virginia, September 20.1832; came to this county with his father, Abraham C. Shelton, in the fall of 1837.  He married Miss Susanna C. Shelton, October 1853, and he has two children living.  Is a successful farmer and stock raiser.
     Elbridge Gerry Sitton is the son of the late William B. Sitton, one of the pioneer settlers.  He was born about the year 1840, and lives at the place where he was born, in Waverly township.
     Philip Sitton was born in North Carolina about the year 1772, and came with his father, Joseph Sitton, and several of his brothers, to this county in 1818; he was prominent in public affairs; he died in this county in 1862 or 1863.
     Jehu L. Sitton, brother to preceding, was born April 26,1778.  He was a captain in the army during the war of 1812, and was at the battle of New Orleans.  He married Miss Annie Gray, by whom he raised fifteen children.  He came to this county in 1818.  In 1846 he married Mrs. Wade, a sister to Capt. Isaac B. Linn, who survives him.  He died in 1865.  The last vote he ever cast was for John C. Breckenridge for president.
     Joseph Winston Sitton, son of preceding, was born in 1806, in Tennessee.  He married Miss Mary Buchanan, of this county, by whom he had ten daughters and one son.  Major Sitton is one of the most prominent citizens of our county and is much respected.
     Hans Smith was a native of Pennsylvania, and came here in the summer of 1828, just two years before he was elected to the legislature from this county.  He was a brilliant orator and a very popular man.  He went to Arkansas in 1846 or 1847, and was shortly afterwards elected to the State Senate.  He finally went to Texas, engaged in mercantile business in Austin, and was drugged, robbed and murdered.
    John Snethen was born in Estill county, Kentucky, and came with his father to Montgomery county in 1808.  During the war of 1812 he was in the fort at

{Page 49}

Howard county and went to school with Kit Carson.  He married Miss Eugenia Wells, sister of Judge CarleyWells, by whom he had six children, of whom two survive.  He was a merchant of Troy for thirty-seven years.
     David Stewart was born in Montgomery county, Kentucky, January 24,1798; came to this State and settled near Palmyra in 1829, and came to this county the following year.  He married Miss Margaret Jameson in 1826, by whom he had eleven children, of whom six survive.  She died in 1848, and two years afterwards he married MissMaryVirginia, a native of Rutherford county, Tennessee; but who had been a resident of this county since 1819, by whom he had one daughter, still living.  He was brigadier-general of the militia.  He and his wife were both killed by a runaway horse attached to a buggy while on their way to church in Louisville on Sunday, June 11,1871.  He was a prosperous farmer, and enjoyed to the day of his death the confidence and esteem of all who knew him; he was a sincere Christian gentleman. Robert Stewart came from North Carolina and was an early settler; he accumulated considerable property and died in this county.
     James A. Ward was born in this county, July 20,1826; married September 10,1851, Miss Virginia Hamilton, by whom he had three children, all living; graduated in medicine at St. Louis University, March 1,1860; married September 7,1871, Miss Sarah C. Worsham.
     Henry Watts was born in Kentucky, and came at any early age to this county.  He was colonel of militia and was under marching orders with his regiment in Gen. Jonathan Riggs’s brigade, for the Black Hawk war in 1832.  He died in 1840.
     Carty Wells was the eldest son of John Wells who married Miss Ann Brady of Prince William county, Virginia, and settled in Shelby county, Kentucky, in 1810, and in St. Charles in 1827, and died in 1837. Carty Wells was the first county clerk of Warren county, and was a member of the State senate from that county.  He came to this county in 1839 and died in 1860.  His wife was Miss Mahala Oglesby, of Kentucky, by whom he had nine children, eight living.  He was prominent in the profession of law.
     Jeptha Wells, nephew to preceding, and son of the late Dr. John C. Wells, was born in Troy, where he still resides, September 18,1852; he is not married.
     Benjamin Walker Wheeler was born in Troy, May 12,1847; commenced the practice of law in 1869; married  Mrs. Edna Adams, November 25,1873.  His father, Otis Wheeler, a native of New Hampshire, was a captain in the regular army, and served in the Florida and Indian wars.
     Charles Wheeler was born in Hanover county, New Hampshire, April 1,1794; moved to New Castle, Henry county, Kentucky, in 1820; had charge of

{Page 50}

New Castle Academy nine months; went next year to Bedford county and taught school.  He came to Alexandria, in this county, in 1825; went to Jefferson county, Kentucky, in 1828, taught school one year, and returned, in 1829, to Troy, where he lived until his death, January 21,1873.  He married Miss Permelia Redmond, of St. Charles, August, 1835.  He was the brother of Capt. Otis Wheeler.  He held the office of justice of the peace from July 31,1829, to within a week of his death when he resigned it.  He was a graduate of Dartmouth, both in law and literature, in the class of 1818.
    John Wilson was born in Muirkirk, Prince George’s county, Maryland, and came with his parents to this county about 1856; he served in the Confederate army during the late war, and lost an arm in battle.  He was a brother of Major James Wilson, of the Federal army, who was killed at Pilot Knob.  He died in June, 1877, of consumption.
     Frederick Wing was born in St. Charles, August 16,1820, and came with his parents to this county in October of the same year.  He married, June 21,1840, Miss Eliza J. Clark, who died in 1844.  May 29,1845, he married MissAnn E. Cochran; has had nine children, of whom four survive.  His business was tanning, afterwards merchandizing, now farming and milling.  He is a prosperous business man and a public-spirited citizen.
     Richard Wommack was born in Halifax county, Virginia, January 10,1804; in 1806 went with his parents to Tennessee, first to Davidson, then to Sumner, and finally to Smith county, where his father died.  He came with his mother to this county October 22,1823.  He was married three times:  August, 1825, to Miss Cynthia Smiley; in 1831 to Mrs. Elizabeth Gilmore; and in 1873 to Mrs. Mary Morris; has had ten children, of whom six daughters and two sons survive.  He has always been prominent in public affairs, and is a liberal and public-spirited citizen.  By reference to the list of officials, it will be seen that he held the office of assessor two terms, that of sheriff four terms; and was elected representative in the Legislature five times; in the last named office he served four terms, and during the fifth his seat was given by a partisan legislature to the defeated opponent.
     William Anderson Woodson was born in Monroe township in this county, February 24,1843.  He married, October 24,1864, Miss Amanda S. Casner, of Bethany, West Virginia; has had two children, one now living.  Has been in the mercantile business some years.
     Richard Henry Woolfolk was born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, October, 1803; studied medicine with Drs. Moore and Nucholls, Shelbyville, in 1823-1824, and came to Troy, 1825.  Had a good practice in this and St. Charles counties, which he maintained for about twenty-five years.  He married May 15, 1828, Miss

{Page 51}

Helen B. Wells, sister to Judge Carty Wells; had no children.  He died in this county.
     Shapleigh R. Woolfolk, nephew of the preceding, was born in St. Charles county June 23,1825; came the same year with his parents to this county.  He married, July 10,1855, Miss Susan C. Bragg, daughter of the late Talbot Bragg, formerly of Charlottesville, Virginia.
     Morgan Wright was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, and came at an early day to this county; he was a brother of the late Edward Thomas J. Wright; he married a daughter of Judge James Duncan, of this county, and died at his home in Clark township about the year 1852.  Two of his daughters live in this county.
     William Young was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, March 26,1803; graduated at Transylvania University, July 15,1824; came to St. Charles county, April, 1827, and the following year to Troy, where he has since lived.  He was married twice:  to Miss Martha Ann Boyd, August 11,1831; and to Miss Sarah C. Russell, October 27,1835, both of Shelby county, Kentucky.  Had five children by his second wife, all living.  He was one of the first signers of the attorneys’ roll of this county, which was done at Alexandria, the then county seat in 1827.  Besides the offices noticed above, he has held various positions of trust, the result of the confidence of the people and an unblemished character.

     Neither the denomination nor the date of the first church organization in this county can be definitely ascertained.  Deacon Joseph Cottle, who came to Troy in 1802, was a minister of the gospel, as is seen in his marriage certificate on file in the county records. Rev. Bethuel Riggs organized the Sulphur Lick Baptist Church in 1813, and this was one of the very earliest churches formed.  At this time Rev. Charles Collard, father-in-law of Freeland Rose, Esq., was also a Baptist minister.  In 1823 there was not a church building in the county; how soon afterwards one was erected is not known.  the oldest church organization still in existence is probably that of the Presbyterian Church in Troy.  It was organized under the name of the “Church of Troy,” November 20,1831, by Revs. William S. Lacy and John S. Ball, the former the father of Rev. B.F. Lacy, D.D., of Mexico, Mo., and the latter the father-in-law of Governor Fred Bates.  It started with nine members, and elected as deacons Francis Parker, who remained an elder up to his death, and Oratio S. Linn.  It has, up to the present received three hundred and fourteen members, had two hundred and eleven baptisms, lost one hundred and ninety in dismissals and deaths, and

{Page 52}

Alphabetical Index
 

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7

File submitted for USGenWeb/MOGenWeb Lincoln County Missouri History Page by Patty Archer, 13 December 2001.  Link change or update: 19 Jan 2002

NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free genealogical information on the Internet, data may be freely used for personal research and by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material.   These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced or redistributed in any format for profit or gain, nor presented by other organization or persons.  Copying of the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged.  Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author and the county coordinator.

Return to USGW/MOGW Lincoln County, Missouri
History Page  |  Home Page

You are the [an error occurred while processing this directive] visitor since 01/19/02.
Thanks for dropping in to visit our Lincoln County History Page!