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MONITEAU TOWNSHIP.
MONITEAU IS THE MIDDLE TOWNSHIP ON THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF RANDOLPH
COUNTY. IT CONTAINS A FRACTION OVER 37 SQUARE MILES, AND WAS CUT OFF FROM
THE TOWNSHIPS OF PRAIRIE AND SILVER CREEK AFTER THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE
MISSOURI, KANSAS AND TEXAS RAILROAD, FROM HANNIBAL TO SEDALIA. SOON
AFTER THIS EVENT A DEPOT WAS ESTABLISHED IN THE PRESENT TERRITORY OF MONI
TEAU, ON LANDS THEN BELONGING TO EDWARD OWENS, CALLED HIGBEE, AND SOON
A VILLAGE WAS LAID OUT ON LANDS BELONGING TO EDWARD OWENS AND JOSEPH
BURTON, A POST-OFFICE WAS ALSO ESTABLISHED, AND THE GROWTH OF THE FUTURE
TOWN WAS BEGUN. THIS GROWTH WAS AFTERWARD ACCELERATED BY THE LOCATION
OF THE CHICAGO AND ALTON RAILROAD THROUGH ITS BORDERS, CROSSING THE MIS-
SOURI, KANSAS AND TEXAS ROAD NEAR THE CENTER OF THE TOWN. THESE ARRANGE-
MENTS HAVING BEEN COMPLETED, A PETITION WAS NUMEROUSLY SIGNED BY CITIZENS
OF THE VICINITY, ASKING THE COUNTY COURT TO ORGANIZE ANOTHER TOWNSHIP, TO BE
CALLED MONITEAU, AS IT WOULD BE LOCATED ON THE HEAD WATERS OF MONITEAU
CREEK.
THE MONITEAU, SILVER AND BONNE FEMME CREEKS TAKE THEIR RISE IN THE
BORDERS OF THIS TOWNSHIP. ALONG THE BORDERS OF THESE STREAMS THE COUNTRY
IS BROKEN AND HILLY, COVERED WITH BLACK AND WHITE OAK TIMBER. WHERE THE
BOTTOMS AND VALLEYS ARE BROAD ENOUGH FOR CULTIVATION, THE LAND IS FOUND TO
HE VERY RICH AND PRODUCTIVE. EVEN THE LAND THAT CANNOT HE CULTIVATED IS
COVERED WITH A HEAVY GROWTH OF VALUABLE TIMBER COMPOSED OF SUGAR MAPLE,
WALNUT AND COTTONWOOD. AS THE DIVIDING RIDGES OF THESE STREAMS ARE
APPROACHED, A SIGHTLY AND FRUITFUL COUNTRY IS PRESENTED, NOW OCCUPIED BY
SUBSTANTIAL FARMERS, AND HIGHLY IMPROVED. FOR GRAZING PURPOSES IT SEEMS
IN MANY RESPECTS, BETTER THAN REGIONS ADJOINING, WHICH HAVE A RICHER AND
DEEPER SOIL. CLOVER AND TIMOTHY PRODUCE WELL WITH CULTIVATION; BUT BLUE
GRASS, THE FIRST TO COME IN THE SPRING, THE MOST NUTRITIOUS WHILE IT LASTS.
AND THE LAST TO BE AFFECTED BY THE FROSTS, IS THE SPONTANEOUS PRODUCTION OF
THIS REGION.
BITUMINOUS COAL UNDERLIES THE SURFACE AND CROPS OUT AT INTERVSLS ALONG
ALMOST ALL THE STREAMS. THE PROXIMITY OF THE RAILROADS TO THESE DEPOSITS
OF BLACK DIAMONDS," MAKES EITHER ENTERPRISE A SAFE AND PROFITABLE INVEST-
MENT AND COAL MINING IS CARRIED ON EXTENSIVELY AT HIGBEE.
MONITEAU WAS FIRST SETTLED BY VIRGINIANS, KENTUCKIANS, TENNESSEEANS
AND NORTH CAROLINIANS, AMONG WHOSE VIRTUES WERE TEMPERANCE, INDUSTRY,
PROBITY AND HOSPITALITY, OF THESE WERE JAMES DYSART, JOHN DYSART, DR.
WILLIAM WALKER. REV. JESSE TERRILL MONTGOMERY WHITMORE, J. HIGBEE,
GEORGE YATES, NICHOLAS DYSART, CHRISTOPHER DYSART, M. M. BURTON, MAJ.
J. B. TYMONY, JOSEPH BURTON, EDWARD OWENS AND GEORGE QUINN. EDWARD
OWENS WAS THE OLDEST MAN IN THE TOWNSHIP AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH.
AMONG OTHER SETTLERS WERE JOHN TURNER, WILLIAM B. TOMPKINS, LYNCH
TURNER, JOSEPH WILCOX, JACOB MAGGARD, CHARLES MCLEAN AND THOMAS
DAWKINS.
JOHN TURNER ERECTED THE FIRST MILL THAT WAS PUT UP IN THE TOWNSHIP.
IT WAS SN OLD-FASHIONED HORSE-MILL; WAS LOCATED IN THE NORTHERN PORTION OF
THE TOWNSHIP, AND WAS RUNNING AS EARLY AS 1828.
THOMAS DAWKINS TAUGHT THE FIRST SCHOOL ABOUT THE YEAR 1830; THE
SCHOOL HOUSE, A SMALL CABIN, STOOD NEAR A SMALL STREAM�ONE OF THE FORKS
OF SILVER CREEK. DAWKINS WAS FROM KENTUCKY, AND WAS MUCH THOUGHT OF
AS A TEACHER.
THE NAME OF JAMES HIGBEE, A WORTHY CITIZEN OF MONITEAU, NOW DE-
CEASED, GAVE THE TITLE TO THE STATION WHICH HAS GROWN INTO A LIVELY, PRO-
GRESSIVE AND THRIVING TOWN. HIGBEE IS SITUATED ABOUT THREE MILES NORTH
OF HOWARD COUNTY LINE, AT THE CROSSING OF THE MISSOURI, KANSAS AND TEXAS
AND THE CHICAGO AND ALTON RAILROADS. IT POSSESSES GOOD FACILITIES FOR
SHIPPING SECOND TO NO PLACE IN NORTH MISSOURI. IT STANDS ON AN OPEN
RIDGE TWO MILES WIDE, BETWEEN THE MONITEAU AND BONNE FEMME CREEKS.
THE PRESENT CITY OFFICIALS OF HIGBEE ARE: MAYOR, LEE THOMASON;
CLERK, RICHARD L. HINES; COLLECTOR, JOSEPH W. BURTON; ASSEESOR, WALTER
DAVIS; STREET COMMISSIONER, OSCAR FOWLER; HEALTH COMMISSIONER, GEORGE
M. NICHOLS; MARSHAL, W. ISAAC WILLIAMS; FIRE CHIEF, JOHN EGLY; ALDERMEN
ROY COMPTON, JENKIN WILLIAMS, CLARENCE LELAND, JOHN LITTLE.
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