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BARRY COUNTY IN 1904 DESCRIBED IN BOOK UNCOVERED IN OLD FARMHOUSE
Lists Names Of Slave Owners In 1861
A chapter in the early legal history of Barry County was exhumed from its
burial place in a dusty corner of an old farm house recently by Mr. and
Mrs. Norman Jackson of Route 2, Monett.
The Jacksons, who had purchased the farm house as an investment, found
during their cleaning process a battered, half-century old copy of a
paper-bound book entitled "Organization and Early History of Barry County,
Mo., and the Financial Statement of the Receipts and Expenditures of the
County for the Year Ending Dec. 31, 1904."
According to the introduction, information for the little book with the
big title was compiled by Charles D. Manley of Cassville, then clerk of
the county court.
County officers listed for the year, 1904, were: Hugh Bassett, presiding
judge of the County Court; J. A. Brock, judge County Court, Eastern
district; L. W. Gardner, judge County Court, Western district; Elijah C.
Frost, judge Probate Court; Absalom L. Galloway, recorder of deeds;
Charles D. Manley, clerk of the County Court.
David Kemp, prosecuting attorney; Charles A. Thomas, Sheriff; Abe Swindle,
collector of revenue; George Wilder, assessor; J. C. Henry, treasurer; J.
T. Horner, coroner; J. F. Pilant, public administrator;
A. W. Rogers, surveyor.
Justices of the Peace for 1904 included D. Wilkerson, D. N. Jewett, C. C.
Carter and A. F. Meister, all of Monett, W. D. Gurley, W. M. Jackson and
W. S. Barr of Purdy; and Samuel Collins, Thomas Calton and James Marbut of
Verona.
Constables of that year included James Johnson, Ed McGlasson and C. R.
Harris of Purdy; F. F. Hultgren and E. A. O'Dwyer of Monett; and E. E.
Eagle of Verona.
Monettans holding license as Notary Publics were: Sig Soloman, Drenery S.
Mayhew, J. L. Downing, D. H. Kemp, Fred E. Shaffer, Thomas D. Steele,
Levin W. Badger, Oliver P. Shaffer, Charles J. Lauderdale, Harry H.
Westbay, James Johnston, John T. Burgess, James G. Marriott, and W. J.
Buley.
Listed in the book under the heading "Persons Holding Slaves in 1861"
were: A. Adcock, Daniel Blythe, Elijah Barker, T. W. Bingham, Larkin
Burnam, William Bogle, John K. Burton, Thomas Brixey, James H. Christian.
B. B. Clements, Jesse Cornelison, Joel Chitwood, John Carter, Sr., William
C. Christian,
J. D. Crouch, Wallace Deffenbaugh, C. B. Duncan, John B. Durham, B. S.
Durham, G. B. Easley, Sevier Frost, William E. Frost, William A. Fly, E.
C. Ferguson, David O. George, Jackson Howerton, Sr., James F. Harrell,
John G. Harvin, A. S. Harbin, John Higgs.
George H. Higgs, S. M. Johnson, J. T. Keet, J. G. Lock, James Lee,
Elizabeth Meadows, Joel F. Mitchell, G. Moore and son, William McClure, H.
S. Montgomery, T. E. Mason, Nancy Mason, L. Mason, dec'd, Margaret McGee,
R. B. Perkins, Robert Pate, Isaac Peevey, Andrew Roller, T. J. Rodgers,
John W. Rodgers, J. H. Randleman, John Smith, Catherine Stephenson, W. B.
Taliaferro and son, W. G. Townsend, J. G. R. Turner, James M. Wilson, D.
M. White, James R. White, Asa Wormington, John Whittington, Sr., Kezish ?
Walker, and Nancy Williams.
Approximately half of the slave owners listed only had one slave in that
year and Daniel Blythe was the largest slave-owner with 19.
Included in the book are advertisements from a variety of Cassville,
Monett, and Purdy businesses including the following Monett firms: Monett
State Bank, First National Bank of Monett, Ernest Boss' Restaurant and
Cafe, Martin's Clothing, Davis and Chapell Hardware, W. L. Marbut, agent
for the "Celebrated Studebaker Wagons," L. W. Badger, Real Estate and
Loans, Durnil's Dry Goods Store, Bob Calloway Furniture and Undertaking,
Ed Saltzer Lumber and Building Materials, Monett Evening Herald and Weekly
Eagle, The Monett Daily Star and the Semi-Weekly Times.
Interesting, although confusing, is the quaint wording of some of the
petitions in the court and orders of the court issued prior to publication
of the book and reprinted therein.
A petition for a public road reads: "Now at this day comes John G. Loch
and presents the petition of sundry citizens of the township of McDonald
and Spring River, praying the establishment of a public road from the town
of McDonald, by way of Jacob Miller's head of Spring River, by way of G M.
Gibson's, thence upon the most eligible ground and most approved route to
the town of Salem."
Copy of an order concerning capture and sale of a slave, dating back to
1844 reads: "This day comes Sam'l M. Pharis and files herein Court his
account against the State of Missouri for prison fees and charges as
jailor of Barry County for the care of Willis, a runaway negro, committed
to said jail as a runaway slave, and the Sheriff, having made out
duplicate statements showing the name, age, and particular description of
the said runaway to be sold by said Sheriff, and a particular account of
the expense of apprehending, keeping, advertising, and selling ___slave,
it is ordered by the Court that said account, amounting to the sum of
$163.75, be allowed and said Sheriff is hereby authorized and required to
pay said amount to Sam'l M. Pharis."
First inquest in the county was held by John Fullerton, coroner, "on the
body of an unknown man found dead," according to entry in the lists of
first.
Also recorded was the first estate administered in Barry County, that of
Samuel Grubbs in November, 1835, by James Weems, administrator appointed
by the County Court.
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Research Note: This was
published in the paper with a date of 1816. The list is the same list
given on the 1860 Slave Schedules. It was a typo
by the paper when published in 1857, but has been corrected for our use on MoBarry. Donna Cooper, Coordinator |