HIST. OF APPANOOSE(1878) - EXLINE, NEW HOPE, CALDWELL, SEDAN

SEVERAL

Posted By: Alice & Wayne Daniels (email)
Date: 3/30/2003 at 13:13:47

HISTORY OF APPANOOSE COUNTY - EXLINE, NEW HOPE, CALDWELL, SEDAN - CALDWELL TOWNSHIP
PG 472-474
1878 APPANOOSE COUNTY HISTORY BOOK
1989 REPRINT

EXLINE

“Caldwell City,” as surveyed by J. J. Hall, the 6th and 7th of March, 1873, is located on the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 32, Township 68, Range 17. It lies south of the Burlington & Southwestern Railway track. At first, the railway company was disposed to ignore this as a stopping-place, but a switch was put in, owing to this being a better location for receiving farm produce and railway ties than Caldwell, which lies two miles further east. Mr. Exline, the proprietor of the plat, however, started in the dry goods business some years ago, and is now building a larger store to accommodate his growing business. There are two other stores in the town, and a drug store. A saloon was started in the winter of 1877-78, but could not earn a living for its proprietor.

It is stated that $600 worth of railway ties were purchased here in September last, most of them being hauled from the edge of Missouri.

An application was made for the establishment of a post office here in April, 1876, but without success until February, 1877, when the petition was granted, and Mrs. Price appointed Postmistress. The post office was named Exline, and soon after the railway company gave the stopping-place the same name.

The village is still destitute of a depot building and telegraph office; but these needs will probably soon be supplied.

A Christian Church was organized in this neighborhood in 1855, some of the first members being James Barrett and wife, David Farnsworth and wife, John Conger and wife, Solomon Hobbs and wife, Mr. Baker and wife. The ministers were Elders Humphreys, Harvey, Barrett, Jordan and Buchanan. About 1864, the society had about as
hundred members, and, in the following year, a church was erected, which stands just clear of the town plat. The society became disorganized in 1874, owing to trouble between two members, but a partial re-organization has since been effected, with about twenty-five members. Elder Humphreys holds occasional services.

NEW HOPE

This expectant village was laid out on the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of
Section 28, Township 68, Range 17, by William Hall, C. S. Maring and J. W. Sheets, and
acknowledged May 19, 1857, before William Monroe, Justice of the Peace. The streets running east and west are South, Main and North, intersected by Spring street. The surveying was done by E. D. Skinner, and the magnetic variation was 10 (degree) 30 (feet).

The venture did not blossom into prominence and having achieved the establishment of a store and post office, and a mill near by, the town stopped to rest, and has been resting ever since.

CALDWELL

This station lies about two miles east of Exline, on a small creek emptying into the Chariton, and is a station on the Burlington & Southwestern Railroad, which was built from Moulton westward in 1874. There is a station-building, telegraph office and general store here. The houses are divided into two clumps, separated by the creek, inhabited almost exclusively by coal-miners.

At this point, the coal is found quite near the surface, usually from twenty to thirty feet, and one mine is reached without a shaft. It is hardly likely that any considerable town will
grow up here, beyond the needs of the mining interest, as the ground is rough and broken; but the coal industry, as carried on here, cannot fail to be of great advantage to the business of neighboring towns. Many of the miners employed here are of foreign birth, but they are spoken of as being an industrious, thrifty class, quite temperate, and good citizens. Much of the coal mined here is consumed by the Burlington road; but a considerable share is sold at other stations along the line.

SEDAN

This is the crossing-point of the Burlington & Southwestern Railway and the Missouri, Iowa & Nebraska, and is not a ticket station on either line. It is in Section 25, Caldwell, and near the Chariton.

The railway companies have, so far expended about $150 on depot buildings, which are occupied by a family who furnish well-cooked and palatable meals to passengers who are compelled to wait here several hours to change in any direction.

Near by is a store and saloon under one roof. This and the uncouth, unplastered shanty, called a depot-building for want of a suitable designation, comprise the “outfit” of Sedan in the line of architecture.

THE TOWNSHIP

F. A. Stevens and Solomon Hobbs were among the first settlers of this township, and Dr. J. H. Worthington, who came in 1846, was the first regular physician to settle in the county.

The first birth in the township was that of Elizabeth Stevens, in April, 1843.

The first sermon preached in the vicinity was at the house of Eli Ayers, by Rev. Isaac Newland, in 1844.

The first mill was Michael Pilkey’s, built on Chariton River, in 1849.

The first store was Daniel Castor’s, in the south part of the township, started in 1857, and
Caldwell post office was established the same year, T. B. Maring, Postmaster.

The first school taught was by D. T. Stevens, in 1849, in a cabin on the farm owned by F. A. Stevens.

Caldwell is the largest township in the county, and in area of wooded land stands third. The township is thickly settled with an industrious farming population, and the level vista of cultivated land stretching in all directions is most agreeable to the traveler’s eye.

A society of Baptists was formed in this township in 1860, the first members being Dr. J. H. and Martha Worthington, Lewis Harris and E. T. Stevens. Rev. John Osborn was the organizing minister. The Pastors have been Rev. Messrs. Ogle, Gully, Huckaby, Thomas A. Salladay, J. Kincaid, A. Jackson and J. Redburn. The society meets at the schoolhouse in District No. 3, and has bout forty members. J. H. Worthington and J. Holman are the Deacons. Rev. J. Kincaid is Superintendent of the Sabbath school, assigned by C. Meeker. R. Bennyfield is Librarian, and the teachers are Mr. and Miss Meeker, Mrs. Worthington and D. Stevens. About fifty pupils attend.

The Methodists have a church-building in the township, called “Zoar Chapel,” which was built many years ago. Services are held here every third Sunday forenoon, and at the Johnson Schoolhouse the same afternoon. A fine Sabbath school is maintained at Zoar Chapel, of which David Stevens was Superintendent during the past summer.