EARLY SETTLEMENT
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Original Occupancy.---The Osage and Delaware Indians formerly occupied or claimed control of extensive
territory, including what is now Polk County, and this possession was at times disputed by several other tribes.
The last of the number of treaties between the United States and the Indians, through which the Government
gained title to these lands, and thus enabled settlers to obtain peaceable possession of the same, was made in
the early third of the present century. When the settlement of the territory now comprising Polk County began,
the aborigines had resigned most of it; but, for a considerable after period, they returned in large numbers,
hunting the wild game which abounded, and maintaining friendly relations with the settlers.
For some time after the settlement of the county began, the territory was infested with all kinds of wild
animals and wild fowl common to this latitude. Chief among the larger game were buffalo, bear and deer.
The buffalo that escaped destruction at the hands of the pioneers, fled westward, and were soon extinct.
The bear remained, and in time fell a prey to the settlers. Deer were long plentiful, and small groups are yet
seen occasionally. Wolves, panthers, wild-cats and other such pests have become well-nigh extinct.
Wild turkeys are plentiful in the forests remote from settlement, and wild ducks are found along the streams.
Sporting and hunting constituted a large share of employments and pleasures of the first settlers. Bee
hunting was both a pleasant and profitable source of amusement, and as much as 100 to 150 pounds of honey
was frequently taken from a single tree.
Reminiscences.-- It is estimated that, at the time of its organization, the population of the entire county
scarcely exceeded 175 to 200 persons, or about one to every ten square miles; and , in this connection, the fact
must not be lost sight of that the county then embraced much territory since added to surrounding sister counties.
The inhabitants were chiefly Tennesseeans and Kentuckians, enterprising settlers, who soon began the work
of improvement. Log cabins were erected, small farms were {[ 273 ]} opened, enterprise was set on foot, and
justice was established, until soon all the chief requirements of civilized life were here planted. flattering reports
of the grandeur and fertility of this section soon reached the older States. Vivid descriptions of its broad,
undulating prairies, alluvial bottoms and fertile valleys, with their clear, sparkling springs and brooks, speedily
induced hundreds to seek their future homes in the new county, which their friends who had come before them
had so alluringly described.
Every year brought fresh arrivals, who entered at once upon the work of settling and improving
the country. The settlements were small and far distant from one another, and the settlers frequently had to travel many miles to
miles to reach a mill, postoffice or trading point. Springfield was for a long time the nearest postoffice, and was then, as now, the
most important town in this whole section of country. It was some years before anything like a convenient number of mills,
churches, schools, and other public necessities, had been established, though they came, one after the other, as circumstances admitted.
There were several settlers in the southern part of the present county before the Indians retired. The latter
demanded rent of the whites, payable in corn and other produce, and soon became quite troublesome, though they committed no serious
depredations, making threats which alarmed the settlers. The danger became so great apparently that the whites assembled together
and selected one of their number, J. N. Sloan, to visit and petition the Governor for relief. He made the journey on
horseback, consulted with his Excellency, and returned with gratifying assurances of protection. After this the Indians
became more quiet, and remained friendly until their removal.
The earliest settlers lived on claims, and the Government lands in Polk County were first opened
to entry in the fall of 1837. Corn was about the only grain raised, and the pioneers obtained their meal by triturating their
corn in a mortar with a heavy pestle and shifting it through a hand-sieve. The mortars were superseded by hand-mills, those by
horse-mills, and the latter by water-mills propelled by the old-fashioned "tub" wheels. The millstones were quarried out of the hills,
and {[ 274 }] manufactured by slow chiseling. The early ones were not more than eighteen inches in diameter.
The first bolting cloths
were of domestic make, stretched around a rude frame, turned by hand and
jarred by a beetle suspended from above. The first grist-mill was built
on the Sac River, near Hickory Grove, in 1835. the first lumber used in
any form other than the log was hewn into shape by painstaking pioneers.
Many of the first cabins were built by “bees,” in which all of the older
residents for miles around contributed to the establishment in their
midst of the newcomer. The first sawed boards were cut out with the once
familiar “whip-saw.” A log was placed on elevated bearing, and the saw
was passed through it lengthwise by a man above and another below, after
the manner of using the ordinary cross-cut saw. The early saw-mills were
primitive affairs, of which John S Lemmon built the first on the Sac
River in 1835. Other saw and grist mills were erected until, in 1862,
there were four of the former and ten of the latter. A comparatively
small number of frame dwellings were built prior to the war of the
States, and those chiefly in the villages. Since the war this class of
houses has predominated, though in all parts of the county log dwellings
are to be seen which seem to connect the Polk county of the past with
that of the present day.
Mr. S.W. Faulkner, president of the Bank of Bolivar and of the Polk County Immigration Society, and one of the well-informed residents of the county, states that the first wheat flour used in Polk County was brought from Washington County, Arkansas, and that the first grain was hauled to Boonville, 150 miles, with cattle, and then brought only about thirty-two and a half cents per bushel. The best horses brought only $25 to $35 in trade, and good cows only about $6. Among the first marketed were such as were driven to Independence, Mo., and there sold for use in the Santa Fé trade. About 1850 Polk Countians began driving beef cattle to St. Louis. The first clothing procurable by early comers here after their advent was entirely of home production. The flax which they were enabled to grow on their land was converted by processes common to new countries into thread, then into cloth. Red or uncolored leather was made from the skins of slain cattle, which were tanned [{Page 275]} in bark and rubbed out by hand. There was some genius in about every family who could make shoes, and the old red foot-wear then in use is remembered and commented on by many a longtime resident. From an early day, and until the war, many of the well-to-do residents owned slaves. There were very few who had as many as two or three dozen, and not many who had one dozen, the usual number owned by an individual being from three to six. From an economic point of view, negroes were never good property in this section, an even those who were once strenuous in upholding the slave system speak in high terms of the comparative profitableness of the labor system of to-day.
Looney Township produced the first woven cloth in the county, which came from the loom of Mrs. Martha Smith, wife of J.H.M. Smith, in 1830. The first sermon preached in the county was delivered by Rev. W. Slaven, in 1832, at the residence of Aaron Ruyle. Aaron Ruyle has the credit of having planted the first apple orchard in the county, in 1835. the first schools were established in Looney Township in 1835, one taught by a man named Wilson, and another, near Three Mound Prairie, by B. U. Goodrich. Somewhat later a school was opened at New Market, by Ezra Hamer. The first marriage solemnized after the organization of the county was that of Jeremiah Yancey to Miss Mary Thompson, August 11, 1835, “Squire” Isaac Ruth officiating.
The pioneers of Polk County were, for the most part, quiet, unostentatious, law-abiding citizens. There were few bullies among them, and one hears here fewer stories of fighting and violence than in almost any other county in Southwest Missouri. Of course, in the early days of white occupation, before regularly constituted legal authority was established, an appeal to the good right arms of disputants was not uncommon; but there was little bloodshed. One memorable incident, however, demands record: One day, in the summer of 1833, Joseph Ferguson killed Jacob Sigler, and was himself slightly wounded. The affray occurred at the foot of the hill near the “big spring.” Ferguson was arrested, and tried at his own house before “Squire” Stinson, and, while the case was in progress, escaped. All search for him {[Page 276]} proved vain. John P. Campbell was attorney for the State, and Littleberry Hendricks conducted the defense.
An idea of village life in Polk County during a comparatively early period of its history may be gained from the following extract from a communication relating to affairs in Bolivar, which appeared in the Courier more than thirty years ago:
Here we have no distinction of classes or caste, no hide-bound sectarianism, no exclusive clans or intolerant cliques,; and, what is best, we are entirely free from that vile abomination of small places—cod-fish aristocracy. Our young gentlemen are dashing young blades, and our ladies, whether in the amplitude of hoped elegance or the unjeweled rustic garb of unsophisticated simplicity, will compare very favorably, in beauty of form and features, mental endowments, amiability of disposition, benevolence, politeness, modesty, and all the lovely attributes of the sec, with any set of the same number in the West. It is true that we have no churches, and our citizens are not as pious as we would like to have them; but, without ostentation or the mere outward show and pomp of sanctity, they practice, in their daily walks of like, all the virtues of instinctive religion. A noted Methodist minister (Rev. Jo. Wood), after making repeated efforts to revive the good work here, without success, was heard to say that the citizens of Bolivar could do better without the gospel than any people he ever saw—they would not have it, but still were first-rate folks. We have no jail, and no use for one. Our schools are not as extensive as they should be; neither are our streets in the repair we would like to see. Our county is improving with the general progress of the State. Immigrants are daily moving into it with money and industry; new farms are being made, and old ones extended. Two steam-mills are in operation, and another one ought to be right here.
Early Settlers.—Looney Township was the first settled part of the county. Benjamin Looney, for whom it was named, located there in 1833, and died in 1875. Among the other early comers were John Mooney, Richard T. Sage, Samuel Asher, John Ross, David Ross, Aaron Ruyle, Gideon Ruyle, Nelson Ruyle, J. N. Sloan, Jacob Lemmon, Thomas Lemmon, Smith Lemmon, Joseph Tuck, Pittman Woodward, Thomas Woodward, W. W. McKnight, James Faulkner, Charmer de Grafenreid, Nathaniel Herndon, Daniel Harpool, Martin Harpool, William Maxey, William Daley, Hartwell Johnson, William Winton, Hugh Boyd, Robert E. Acock, Abram Slagle, John Slagle, Abram Sears and Jesse Mitchell. This township was, in every essential respect, the pioneer township of the county. There the first cloth was woven, the first school was opened, the first sermon was preached, the first orchard was planted, and the first mills were built; and at Brighton, in the latter part of 1857, was established the first [{Page 277]} telegraph office in Southwest Missouri, on the line of the overland mail route.
John Mooney, William Patterson, Dr. Hamilton Bradford, John McClure, Samuel Beckley, Anthony Agnes and James Smithson were among the earliest settlers in Mooney Township, which derived it name from the first mentioned. Mrs. Lucretia H. Bradford, widow of Dr. Hamilton Bradford, long had in her possession relic or the Revolution--a bottle-shaped gourd raised on the farm of Eli Coffee, in Albemarle County, Va., in 1776. Mr. Coffee presented it to Dr. Bradford considerably more than half a century ago. It was used as a powder-horn during the struggle for American independence, and is yet in a good state of preservation.
Conspicuous among the pioneers in Marion Township were Gustave Gunter (said to have built the first house in Bolivar), William Lunceford, James W. Johnson, Winfray Owens, William Piper, E. M. Campbell, Caleb Jones, Samuel Wilson, John W. Wilson, Joseph L. Young, David D. Stockton, Daniel M. Stockton, William Jamieson, Ephraim Jamieson, Edmund Keeling, Abner Fenley, I. W. Davis, Thomas McAllister, R. B. Price, John E. Rains, William Henry, Rev. Elijah Williams, W. R. Devin, Clayton Devin, A. C. Denny, Isham Ables, James Ables, J. R. Callaway, Darling Smith, Scudder Smith, Amos Richardson and Lewis Morgan. The first building was erected in 1832 or 1833, by Gustave Gunter, who afterward sold his improvement to Edward Keeling. A few other houses had been built previous to the organization of the county. In the southwest part of Three Mound Prairie, at Hickory Point, William Jamieson opened the first retail store in the county. Joseph C. Montgomery was appointed commissioner to select the seat of justice of Polk County, March 20, 1835. He was succeeded by William Jamieson, who, as such commissioner, purchased from the General Government the land on which the city of Bolivar now stands (the first cash entry made in the county) laid off the town and sold the lots.
Jackson Township was early settled. Among its pioneers were Isaac Looney, Michael Crow, Adam Zumwalkt, Isaac Ruth, James Mallicoat, Jeremiah Acurr, Woods Hamilton, Berry Coats, [{Page 278]} Jonathan Rice, Thomas Burros, Joseph Linn, Middleton Lane, Henry King, James King, John McClure, Auguist New, Thomas J. Kelly, Butcher Holder, and several families of the Potters and Mitchells. In the early history of the county, Orleans, on the Sac, was quite a trading point, and the name of the town was quite familiar throughout the Southwest, but for many years past there have remained but few reminders of its former prominence.
Johnson township was not settled as early as the central and eastern parts of the county. James Human, the pioneer, located at the "big spring," where Humansville now is , in 1834, and died in 1875. Shortly after him came David Moulder, W. B. B. George, James Rentfrow, Larkin Williams, John Yoast, George Yoast, Thomas W. King, Wesley Saveley, Rev. Daniel R. Murphey, Ransom Cates, and Joseph H. Moller. James, or "Judge," Human, as he came to be known, emigrated from Illinois, and, after his identification with Polk County, frequently filled important positions of trust, once representing the county in the State Legislature, once as a member of the county court, and, at different times, performing the duties of several other offices. Rev. Mr. Murphey, who also died in 1875, was a minister of the Baptist Church, well known throughout the county for more than forty years.
The first settlers in Madison Township were S. H. Bunch, Ransom Cates, Abner Rentfrow, Peter Rugle, William Campbell, Shaves Campbell, Scott Campbell, John Hunt, James Stockton, Robert Evans, Henry Akard, Jonas Akard, Jacob Sugler, Joseph Ferguson, Silas fox, John Crain, James Watson, Ahab Bowen, James Hopkins, Benjamin Craighead, Francis Dunnegan, William Dunnegan, Matthew Dunnegan, William Webb, Drury Kersey, Alfred Frieze, David Roundtree and William Davison. The general occupation of this part of the county was by no means early, and as late as 1857 the township could boast of but one school-house, which also did service as a church when its use was so required.
The old town of New Market, laid out by William Campbell, once had an active trade, which was diverted to Orleans when that now half-forgotten town was built near by, and New Market is not now known on any map of the county.
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David Bartley was the first who located permanently in Benton Township. John Vanderford, Maynard Vanderford, Stephen Jones, Elijah Gordon, Noah Gordon, James Shaw, John Gordon, David Hendrickson and Benjamin Gordon came a little later.
Greene Township was settled at a comparatively recent period by Joseph Inks, B. L. Stephens, Jacob Bollinger, John Jump, John Howe, James Jump, Samuel Rutherford, Brice Stewart, Leonard Richards, Derrit Barclay, Hugh Estes, Evan Stewart, Rev. Mr. Callison and John Burns. John Jump, Evan Stewart and John Burns were soldiers in the war of 1812-14. The latter lived to a very advanced age, and was long revered as the oldest man in the township.
The latest settled part of the county was Jefferson Township. George W. Kelly made the first settlement at Dry Fork, on the Bolivar and Warsaw road. James Black, Ezekiel Flint, Russell W. Kelly, S. A. Morgan, J. C. Davis and Leander Wilson were all early here.
The settlement of Campbell Township, where some of the Campbells, Dunnegans and others early located, is included in the paragraphs above referring to pioneering in Johnson and Madison Townships, from which Campbell Township was formed at a comparatively recent date.
Public Lands and Land Entries.—The records of the United States Land Office at Springfield show that Government lands in Polk County were first opened to entry in the fall of 1837. The land first entered was that on which the town of Bolivar was built, and the entry was made by William Jamieson, commissioner of Polk County, October 5, 1837. R. K. Payne, John Looney and Washington Williams entered lands in the same year, which are now embraced within the limits of Looney Township. To afford a more extended list of early settlers, as well as to more definitely locate many of those already mentioned, the following has been compiled from the records, showing by whom and in what years the earlier land entries were made in the several congressional townships included within the county as it is now bounded:
Township 31, Range 21: 1844—George C. Reed, Jane Reed, Hugh Boyd, Joseph Cavin, Robert L. Fullerton, James W. Tiller, {[Page 280]} Andrew W. Fullerton, Sol H. Owens, Gray Wills, John Ramey; 1845—Greenbury Rogers, James O. Cowden.
Township 31, Range 22: 1844—Elijah Perkins, Elijah Hamilton, Jacob Lemmon, William Lemmon, William Asher, Willard Pyle, Nathan A. Anderson, William Adamson, Samuel G. Thompson; 1845—Jacob Vaun, H. Mitchell, Thomas Lemmon, William H. Lemmon, Neal Thompson, William Adamson, James W. Cooke.
Township 31, Range 24: 1837—Isaac Looney, William J. Meadors; 1838—Robert J. McElhany, Hezekiah Rooks, Burton A. James, Bledso Holden, Benjamin Coats, Hezekiah Rooks; William Mallicoat, Gideon Dailey; 1839—A. Killingworth, Jonathan Rice, John McClure, Jeremiah Claypool, Adam McCarty, John McArty, Nelson McDowell, Polly Meadors, William J. Meadors, William Meadors, Bledso Holden, Levi Rush, James McClure; 1840—John Goodwin; 1843—Henry M. Newland.
Township 32, Range 31: 1837—C. J. Pendergraft; 1845—Cyrus Patterson, John B. Mooney, James Smithson, John Fouts, John Burns, J. W. Beckley, Joseph R. Burns, Caleb Murray, James Driscoll, John Mooney, Samuel G. Beckley, Charles Tise, William D. Cowden, James A. Cowden.
Township 32, Range 22: 1837—Gideon Ruyle, Aaron Ruyle, John Looney, Sr., John T. Williams, John R. Williams, Green B. Adams, William M. Payne, Rodham R. Payne, John Looney, Sr., Benjamin Looney, Jonathan N. Barr; 1838—John Mooney, Anthony Ayres, Jeremiah N. Stone, Jesse Mitchell, James M. McClure, Providence Mitchell, LeRoy Adams, John Smith, Hugh Boyd, John Robertson, Sol. B. Bryant, Josiah Scroggins, John N. Ruyle, Robert D. Powell, Gideon Ruyle, Aaron Ruyle, Alvis Ruyle, Richard Sage, Absalom Looney, J. H. M. Smith, John McClure, John F. Williams, James H. McClure, James McClure, John M. Brock, Stephen Jones, Benjamin Looney, Abraham Slagle, John Becker, Edward Thompson, James Driscoll, William Henderson, Hugh Boyd, Edwin Elliott, Robert {[Page 281]} E. Acock, Greenup Leeper, John Cantwell, Wilson Gilmore, Peter Gilmore, Jacob Slagle, Jr., John Slagle, Ransom E. Elliott; 1839—Samuel G. Beckwith, High Boyd, Charles Hatler, Abraham Lears, Peter Gilmore, William Hancock, James Gilmore, Robert E. Acock, Ransom E. Elliott, Elvira Elliott, Edward Thompson, Samuel G. Beckley, James Smithson, Jacob Lears, James Slagle, Aaron Ruyle, John Mooney, John McClure, James Perryman, James H. Perryman, James B. Lusk; 1840—Gideon Ruyle, Jasper Ruyle, Richard Sage, Joseph Tuck, John Bollinger, Absalom Looney, Jacob Lears, Robert E. Acock, Robert Ross, Edward Thompson, Benjamin Coats, Wilson Gilmore, John R. McKinney, James Slagle; 1841—Absalom Looney, Richard Graham; 1844—John W. Mitchell.
Township 32, Range 23: 1837—Abner Spence, Benjamin Looney, John Looney, Jr.; 1838—Samuel Davis, William Thompson, Morris Mitchell, Samuel Tindle, Morris Mitchell, Jr., Edwin C. Rogers, Stephen Mitchell, James Mitchell, James Boone, Jesse Scroggins, William Stephens, Samuel Blanton, Reuben M. Hill, Edwin C. Rogers, Michael N. Crow, Abram H. Foley, John Grider, John Dunnaway, John F. Winton, Samuel A. Mackey, Samuel Mackey, Benjamin Hancock, Benjamin C. Mitchell, John Looney, James Appleby, Benjamin T. Hancock, John S. Lemmon, George Mitchell, Samuel Mackey, William Dailey, Thomas Lemmon, Michael Dailey, Enos Johnson, Samuel Asher, Jacob Lemmon, George W. Dailey, John Dailey, G. Dailey, Hannah Denney, Arthur Ewing; 1839—Calvin H. Davis, William Gouty, Jeremiah N. Sloan, Hannah Denney, Malachi Betthal, James H. Perryman, James Matthews, Joseph Ingraham, Gibson Hendrix, Ezekiel M. Campbell, Ransom Cates, Stephen Mitchell, James Mitchell, Caleb McDaniel, Samuel Davis, Mordecai Acock, James Pike, Hartwell Johnson, Morah Mallicott, James Boone, Tandy Lane, William T. Grider, Benjamin W. Robertson, Samuel H. Bunch, Hiram Tuck, Berry Scroggins, John F. Winton, William Goodman, George Mitchell, John Looney, Jr., James Appleby; 1840—Isaac Ingraham, Morris Mitchell, Jacob Perryman, William Johnson, William Pyle, Samuel Asher, Daniel West, Calvin H. Davis, John Keller, Thomas Gilmore, Morris R. Mitchell, Stephen Mitchell, John Grider, {[Page 282]} Jesse Scroggins, Benjamin C. Mitchell, Isaac Lemmon, Robert Wilson, William Dailey, John Dunnaway, George W. Dailey, George Venable, Alfred Major; 1841—Daniel F. Ross, John Matthews, Berry Scroggins, William Wilson; 1842—William Davis, James Boone, Stephen Sawyer, George Mitchell; 1843—Elgin G. Hill; 1844—Abner M. Ross, John Looney, David M. McClure; 1845—James Johnson, John Lane.
Township 32, Range 24: 1838— Thomas Jones; 1845—Charles Bunch, David N. Hunt, John Hunt, Lawson Thompson, Jesse Neal, Ezekiel M. Campbell, Benjamin Hagerman, Henry King, Jonath. King, Burton Potter, John H. Taylor, Isaac P. Russell, Francis M. Goodman, Thomas B. King, Perry M. Coats, Isaac Coalson.
Township 33, Range 21: 1837—Elijah Gordon; 1838—Moses P. Hart, Robert Barclay, David Wright, Noah Gordon, Elijah Gordon, Richard Brown, Alfred Gordon, Elihu Hedges, Gordon Tirey, David B. Font, William Owens, William Barclay; 1839—William M. Payne, Brackett Davidson, John Williams, David Wright, John Alderman, Richard Brown, Clark Bolt, John Vanderford, John W. Ratcliff, Nathaniel Gregg, Hugh J. Gordon, Isaiah Gregg, Duret H. Barclay, Noah Gordon, Alfred Gordon, Moses P. Hart, Samuel Gordon, Joseph R. Callaway, Jonathan T. Bradford, Alfred Major; 1840—Perry Viles, James Haynes, Noah Gordon, Richard Brown; 1841—Brackett Davidson, John Allen, James W. Gordon, John H. Beckley; 1842—William Viles, H. Nichols,; 1845—Benjamin F. Tirey, John Wright.
Township 33, Range 22: 1838—William Piper, Jason Ashworth, James Ashworth, Thomas McCallister, Stephen Jones, Edmund Keeling, Thomas J. Shannon, William Owens, John W. and J.B. Jamieson, Winfrey Owen; 1839—Joseph R. Callaway, Pleasant Fouts, James Wilson, Joseph Powell, Thomas J. Shannon, Edmund Keeling, William Jamieson, Abraham Hendricks, John Terry, Ira Parrish, Peter Haynes, John Decker, William Wright, James Ashworth; 1840—Thomas McCallister, John Hendricks, Winfrey Owens, Larken Fouts, William Owens; 1841—Delilah Piper, William Wright, James Wilson, Lewis E. Morgan, William, John W. and J.B. Jamieson; 1842—Jesse S. Tow; 1845—Wesley Pennington, Erasmus D. Wilcox. {[Page 283]}
Township 33, Range 23: 1837—William Jamieson; 1838—Isaac A. Hartman, Levi A. Williams, Isaac Ruth, Thomas Dooley, John D. White, Samuel Moore, Richard Stout, Clark Jones, Asham Able, Nathaniel F. Williams, Joshua Jones, James Able, Joseph Deeds, William Able, Elijah Williams, Frederick J. Oliver, Samuel S. Hughes, William R. Devin, William Hawkins, Robert Holmes, Ezekiel M. Campbell, Abraham Finley, Patrick F. Andrews, Caleb Jones, Thomas McCallister, William Lunceford, Ephraim Jamieson, Daniel M. Stockton, John Swingle, Martin Harpool, Alexander C. Denney, Thomas Rountree, Elizabeth King and heirs, Emsley Fouts, Robert Hopper, John M. Gillespie, Scudder Smith, Abraham Hendricks, Clayton Stockton, David D. Stockton, Samuel Dunnegan, John P. Redman, James W. Johnson, Hutchison Webb; 1839—John Stockton, Mary J. Millican, Azariah Cates, John Denney, James W. Johnson, David D. Stockton, Nathaniel W. Wilson, Darling Smith, William Smith, William Clark, David Stockton, William Henry, John M. Miller, Abraham Finley, Ezekiel M. Campbell, Sampson Norton, William Lunceford, William R. Wollard, Thomas Walker, Annaniah F. Oliver, Samuel Dysert, Samuel S. Hughes, Alexander E. Denny, Jesse W. Nelson, Joseph Deeds, William White, Nicholas McMahon, Nathaniel F. Williams, E.E. Nowell, Nathan T. Williams; 1840—Isaac Ingraham, E.P. Nowell, Joshua Jones, John Hartman, Malcolm McDougald, Nathaniel F. Chaise, George Gehar, Alexander E. Denney, Ephraim P. Nowell, Thomas Rountree, Ezekiel M. Campbell, Simpson Deck, Darling Smith, Lewis E. Morgan, Lewis Offield; 1841—William Henry, Reuben Tow, Lewis E. Morgan, Caleb Jones, Alexander Tow, James I. Tilton, and L.L. Landers; 1842—Seth Walker; 1844—Ephraim Nowell, Louis H. Scruggs.
Township 33, Range 24: 1837—Zaccheus Harper; 1838—William C. Campbell, Ransom Cates, Joseph Akard, Benford Maxwell, James Simmons, Wash. Hensley, Robert C. Garner, Henry Akard, John F. Rountree, Thomas Rountree, Thomas Hill, Peter Ruyle, Robert Evans, Andrew Hayes, Daniel Moulder, Reuben Smith, Joseph and Charles Rountree, Joseph Rountree, James Watson, Benjamin U. Goodrich, D. B. Roaks, James Stockton, Caleb Murray, Margaret Bunch, John Bunch, {[Page 284]} Absalom Rentfrow, Jeremiah R. Yancey, Joseph Miller, Samuel H. Bunch, Albert Bryant, John Davis, Thomas Gillihan, Isaac Ruth, John Wright, Hezekiah Brown, George W. Blair, Enos Hammer, Demarcus Hopper, Susannah Coffman, Caleb Jones, Jesse Neal; 1839—William C. Campbell, Susannah Coffman, William Webb, Alexander Blair, Benjamin Craighead, Pallas Neely, Archibald Ray, Jonas L. King, Henry Akard, Peter Jones, Thomas Rountree, Joseph Rountree, Jr., Simeon Trent, James Akin, Andrew M. Akard, Henry Akard, Joseph Akard, Aaron Akard, Samuel S. Hughes, Alexander W. Denney, John W. Wakefield, George W. Hayes, Miller W. Easley, Robert Evans, Thomas Gillihan, Ahab Bowen, John Grant, Richard Grant; 1840—John W. Wakefield, Samuel B. Hopkins, John Hensley, George W. Sutherland, Solomon Hopkins, James Simmons, Andrew M. F. Akard, John Crain, William C. Akard, Jones L. King, Caleb Jones, Andrew Akard; 1841—Joseph Rountree, Andrew D. Coffman, Rufus B. C. Bunch, John O. L. Bunch, Thomas Rountree, Miller W. Easley; 1842—Merrit Simmons, Robert S. Bigham; 1843—Silas Fox; Gideon Hillihan.
Township 34, Range 21: 1839—John M. Link, Thomas Vinson, James Jump, James Paerman, R. M. Vanderford, John W. Thompson, Charles Bolt, Jacob Alderman, Milton Davidson, George Davidson, Rodham Payne, ; 1840—Charles Bolt, James Shaw, F. H. Edwards, John Brashears; 1841—Alexander McAlexander, John Steele; 1842—John Brashears, E. B. Beard; 1845—Charles Bolt, Jr.
Township 34, Range 22: 1844—Jesse W. Nelson, Madison Snapp; 1845—William Zumwalt, Johathan W. Wilson, Evan Stewart, Joseph Stewart, Joshua Stewart, Richard Stewart.
Township 34, Range 23: 1844—William L. Barker, William Jamieson, James Faulkner, James Williams, John Toller, Christian C. Toller, William Douglas, John O. Devin, William R. Devin, Clayton Devin; 1845—William White, Seth Walker, D.L.M. Ashlock, Joshua A. Stewart, Alexander Moore, William T. Holt.
Township 34, Range 24: 1838—James Fox, J. P. Thompson, Jacob Frieze, William Dunnegan, Alfred Frieze, James Potts; {[Page 285]} 1839—Aaron Allard, Charles Wakefield, Nathan Garner, Hiram Hopkins, William Ashlock, M.G. Campbell, Jacob Frieze, James Fox, Alfred Frieze, John Hopkins, James A. Hopkins, Leander Wilson, Elijah Fox, James Fox, Silas Fox, Andrew R. Colmes, Abner Osborn, Matthew Dunnegan, Francis Dunnegan, William Dunnegan, Obediah Ashlock; 1840—William Grant, Charles Wakefield, Thomas Ashlock, Woodford Frieze, Obadiah Ashlock, William H. Gammon, Wesley G. Gammon, W. H. Gammon, Jeremiah W. Blankenship, William Dunnegan, Zaccheus Harper, John W. Alexander, Thomas Williams; 1841—William Lost, William Dunnegan, Joseph Noland; 1842—Eli Mourfield, Lorenzo J. Blankenship, James Dunnegan; 1844—John Noland, W. N. Fox; 1845—Alexander O. Gilley.
Township 35, Range 21: 1844—James Martin, Joseph N. Lowe; 1845—Nathan Boone, A.C. Callison.
Township 35, Range 22: 1851—John burns, Joseph Payne, Moses Simpson, J. B. Mallock, Ambrose Bradley; 1852—Ambrose Bradley, Peter Howe, E. baker.
Township 35, Range 23: 1838—George W. Kelly, Leander Wilson, John Slagle, John P. Campbell, Thomas W. King, Zaccheus Howard, James Black; 1839—Joseph H. Miller, Allen C. Tate, James Black, George W. Kelly, John M. Kurr, Leander Wilson; 1840—Leander York, James W. Nowlin, Jonathan Owning; 1841—George W. Kelly, Richard G. Andrews; 1842—Thomas McCracken, Moses B. Kurr; 1844—James Dudley, George P. Lemmon; 1845—John Holt, William S. Hatton, Andrew Yoast, Dr. T. McCracken.
Township 35, Range 24: 1837—James G. Human; 1838—Archibald Hopper, George W. Fain, Larkin Williams, Thomas W. King, Leander Wilson, John Yoast, M. G. Campbell, Josiah Goodson; 1839—Wiley B. B. George, Larkin Williams, Moses Waddle, Summers Harper, Amos Richardson, Wesley Saveley, Clayton Richardson, James Rentfrow, Thomas W. King, Mary E. Wilson, Lawrence Rains, Isaac Troth, Peter Ruyle, George C. Yoast, Wiley B. B. George, Daniel Moulder; 1840—Elliott Bland, William Arnold, John Yoast, William Simmons, John N. Goodson, Josiah Goodson, Larkin Williams, James Dudley, James G. Human, Poleman W. Harper, Edenezer {[Page 286]} Arnold; 1841—David P. Harris, William C. Davidson, George W. Norman, Wiley B. B. George, Larkin Williams, Samuel Tillary, James Rector, Elliott Bland, Ebenezer Arnold; 1842—John C. Twiner, Thomas D. Hall; 1844—John Weir, Thomas D. Hall, Gibson Arthur; 1845—Burrel Ecelston.
To be continued asap.
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