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JACKSON TOWNSHIP.
JACKSON TOWNSHIP IS THE MIDDLE TOWNSHIP ON THE NORTHERN BORDER OF
THE COUNTY. IT IS SOMEWHAT IRREGULAR IN SHAPE, AND IS LESS IN SIZE THAN A
CONGRESSIONAL TOWNSHIP, HAVING AN AREA' OF 17,400 ACRES, OR 27½ SQUARE
MILES. IT IS WATERED ON THE WEST BY THE EAST FORK OF THE CHARITON AND
WALNUT CREEK, AND ON THE EAST BY HOOVER AND MUD CREEKS. ALMOST EVERY
ACRE OF THE SOIL IS SUSCEPTIBLE OF CULTIVATION. PRAIRIE AND TIMBER LAND ARE
ABOUT EQUAL. ITS VALUABLE MINERALS CONSIST OF COAL, LIMESTONE AND FIRE CLAY.
THE FARMS GENERALLY ARE IN GOOD CONDITION. THE PRAIRIE IS UNDULATING,
AND IN ITS WILD STATE, PRODUCE A STRONG, HEALTHY AND VIGOROUS GROWTH OF
NATIVE GRASSES, IN A STATE OF CULTIVATION IT YIELDS GENEROUSLY TO THE RARE
AND CULTURE OF THE HUSBANDSMAN ALL THE GRAINS, GRASSES, ROOTS AND FRUITS
USUALLY CULTIVATED IN THIS LATITUDE.
THE EARLY SETTLERS IN JACKSON TOWNSHIP SETTLED GENERALLY ALONG THE
COURSE OF THE STREAMS, AND IN THE TIMBER; IN FACT THE PIONEERS THROUGHOUT
THIS WESTERN COUNTRY ALL SOUGHT THE TIMBER AND WATER. THE PRAIRIES WERE
NOT SETTLED UNTIL MANY YEARS HAD PASSED. MANY OF THE PIONEERS WERE POOR,
AND DID NOT HAVE TEAMS SUFFICIENT TO BREAK THE PRAIRIE, AS IT REQUIRED FROM
THREE TO FOUR GOOD YOKE OF OXEN TO DRAW THE PLOW, AND COMING AS THEY DID
FROM KENTUCKY AND OTHER STATES, WHICH WERE ORIGINALLY COVERED WITH DENSE
FORESTS THEY NATURALLY LOCATED CONVENIENTLY NEAR TO OR IN THE TIMBER. THE
OLD SETTLERS NOW SAY, THE PRAIRIE LAND HAS UNDERGONE A GREAT CHANGE SINCE
THEY FIRST CAME TO THE COUNTY; IT THEN APPEARED TO BE OF A COLD, WET, AND
CLAMMY NATURE, AND DID NOT POSSESS THE SAME PRODUCTIVE QUALITY THAT IT NOW
HAS. AS THE COUNTRY BECAME OPENED AND SETTLED, AND THE PRAIRIE WERE
GRAZED AND TRODDEN BY STOCK, THEIR PRODUCTIVE QUALITIES WERE GREATLY IM-
PROVED UNTIL THEY ARE NOW CONSIDERED THE BETTER FARMING LANDS.
JACKSON TOWNSHIP IS NOT SO WELL WATERED NATURALLY AS SOME OTHER TOWN-
SHIPS. THE STREAMS GENERALLY VEIN THE WESTERN AND SOUTHEASTERN PORTION
OF IT. WALNUT CREEK, THE EAST FORK OF THE CHARITON EIVER, HOOVER AND
MUD CREEKS, AND THEIR TRIBUTARIES, ALL TAKE THEIR RISE IN THIS TOWNSHIP, AND
ALL FLOW SOUTHWEST AND SOUTHEAST EXCEPTING HOOVER CREEK, WHICH FLOWS
NORTHEAST.
THE EARLY SETTLERS INCLUDED SOME OF THE FOLLOWING NAMES: HENRY
OWENS, FROM KENTUCKY; ISAAC REYNOLDS, FROM KENTUCKY; JOHN COULTER,
FROM KENTUCKY; ROBERT STEVENS, FROM KENTUCKY; WILLIAM MCCANNE, FROM
KENTUCKY; H. J. MCCANNE, FROM KENTUCKY; THOMAS MCCANNE, FROM KEN-
TUCKY; NATHANIEL SIMS, FROM KENTUCKY; BENJ POLSON, FROM KENTUCKY;
JAMES W. LAMB, FROM KENTUCKY; MILTON DURHAM, FROM KENTUCKY; STOKELY
W. TOWLES, FROM KENTUCKY; LEONARD HILL, FROM VIRGINIA; JOHN HORE, FROM
VIRGINIA; GEORGE W. HORE FROM VIRGINIA; DAVID MCCANNE, FROM NORTH
CAROLINA; L. C. DAVIS, FROM NORTH CAROLINA; JONATHAN HUNT, FROM VIR-
GINIA; JOHN ANCELL FROM VIRGINIA; FRANK ANCELL, FROM VIRGINIA; C. F.
BURCKHARTT, FROM VIRGINIA; FRANK SIMS, FROM TENNESSEE; WILLIAM BAILEY,
FROM TENNESSEE; JOHN H. PENNY, FROM VIRGINIA.
AMONG THE OLDEST SETTLERS WERS HENRY OWENS AND JAMES W. LAMB.
MR. LAMB CAME IN NOVEMBER, 1837, FROM CASEY COUNTY, KENTUCKY, AND
FOLLOWED FARMING AND LATER KEPT A HOTEL IN THE TOWN OF JACKSONVILLE, IN
1837 THERE WERE NO SETTLEMENTS ON THE PRAIRIE. A ROAD RAN NORTH AND SOUTH
THROUGH THE TOWNSHIP, CALLED THE "BEE TRACE," SO CALLED FROM THE FACT THAT
IT WAS THE ROUTE TRAVELED BY THE OLD PIONEERS WHO HUNTED WILD HONEY, WHICH
WAS WORTH AT THAT TIME TWENTY CENTS S GALLON.
MR. LAMB OCCUPIED HIS TIME AFTER HIS ARRIVAL IN THE TOWNSHIP, CUT-
TING TIMBER AND SPLITTING RAILS AT THIRTY-SEVEN AND A HALF CENTS A HUNDRED,
AND SAWING PLANKS WITH A RIP SAW AT $1.50 PER HUNDRED FEET. TOBACCO WAS
RAISED AT AN EARLY DATE, AND TAKEN TO GLASGOW, WHERE IT WAS SOLD TO THE
MERCHANTS AND SHIPPED TO ST. LOUIS AND ELSEWHERE, FOR $1.50 PER HUNDRED
POUNDS. BACON WAS WORTH $2.25 PER HUNDRED.
AFTER REMAINING HERE A FEW YEARS MR. LAMB WENT BACK TO KENTUCKY
AND WHILE THERE, MARRIED. AFTER HIS MARRIAGE HE DETERMINED TO RETURN
TO RANDOLPH COUNTY, AND IN 1842 HE STARTED UPON HIS JOURNEY OF NEARLY
600 MILES, WITH OULY $10 IN MONEY, HIS WIFE, A HORSE AND BUGGY, AND NEARLY
TRAVELING 28 DAYS, HE ARRIVED AT HIS NEW HOME, HAVING SPENT ALL HIS MONEY,
EXCEPTING SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS. DEER WERE SO NUMEROUS FROM 1885 TO 1840
THAT OFTENTIMES 30 AND 40 COULD BE SEEN AT ONE TIME.
HUMPHREY AND BROCK ERECTED THE FIRST SAW MILL IN THE TOWNSHIP, WHICH
WAS SOON DESTROYED BY FIRE, AND IMMEDIATELY REBUILT, WHEN IT WAS SOLD TO
GEORGE W. JONES, WHO COMBINED IT WITH A GRIST MILL. JONES SOLD TO BENJA-
MM SIMS. THE MILL WAS LOCATED ABOUT HALF A MILE NORTH OF JACKSONVILLE,
AT A SPRING, WHICH FURNISHED WATER DURING THE DRY SEASONS FOR MANY OF
THE CITIZENS OF THE TOWN.
THE FIRST CHURCH THAT WAS BUILT IN THE TOWNSHIP WAS ALSO LOCATED AT
THIS SPRING BY THE CHRISTIAN DENOMINATION IN 1852, AND WAS A UNION CHURCH.
THE TOWN OF JACKSONVILLE IS LOCATED ON THE WABASH RAILWAY 19 MILES
NORTHWEST OF HUNTSVILLE, AND 12 MILES NORTH OF MOBERLY.
THE TOWN SITE WAS OWNED BY WILLIAM MCCANNE, JR., JOHN W. MCCANNE,
SR., AND HENRY OWEN, WHO DONATED 50 ACRES TO THE RAILROAD COMPANY. PRO-
VIDED THEY WOULD LOCATE A DEPOT UPON IT, THIS WAS ABOUT THE YEAR 1858.
THE TOWN WAS NAMED AFTER HANCOCK JACKSON, WHO WAS AN EARLY SETTLER IN
THE COUNTY, AND WHO FILLED BESIDES SEVERAL COUNTY OFFICES, THE POSITION OF
LIEUT.-GOVERNOR OF MISSOURI, THE FIRST BUSINESS HOUSE WAS ERECTED BY
J J. HUMPHREY AND WAS OCCUPIED BY HIM AS A GENERAL STORE.
SAMUEL RIDGEWAY OPENED THE FIRST HOTEL, AND CONTINUED TO OCCUPY
IT UNTIL HIS DEATH, WHICH OCCURRED IN 1880. DR. BURCKHARTT WAS THE FIRST
PHYSICIAN. THOMAS DEMSTER WAS THE PIONEER SHOEMAKER, THE FIRST
CHURCH WAS ERECTED IN 1867 BY THE CHRISTIANS. THOMAS GRIFFEY AND ROBERT
SKINNER WERE THE FIRST BLACKSMITHS.
MASONIC LODGE, NO. 44 WAS ORGANIZED IN JACKSONVILLE IN JUNE, 1866,
WITH THE FOLLOWING CHARTER MEMBERS: JAMES A. BERRY, JAMES A. HOLT,
JAMES M. HANNAH, J. H. PETY, DAVID HALLIBURTON.
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