John R. Maize

The following reminiscence by John R. Maize, a highly respected and honored citizen of Cypress Township is hereby given as illustrative of the early settler and the life of such.

"I was born in Jackson County, Alabama, in 1821; immigrated to Kentucky when I was six years of age; afterwards moved to Indiana where my father died, then to Illinois where my mother died. I came to Missouri in 1840 with Aseph Butler.

"I entered the land on which I now live. I agreed to work for Aseph Butler for four years if he would enter my eighty acres for me where I raised my cabin, the land being worth $1.25 per acre. You can see what my four years of work amounted to. When Mr. Butler went to Plattsburg to enter land, the land agent refused to allow him to enter my land because I had been living on it. I had to make the trip myself, which I did, entering my eighty and another forty which I afterwards deeded to Asep Butler. My land patent bears the name of Millard Fillmore. Nine years was the length of my services to Asep Butler.

"Our nearest neighbors in the early forties were John Music, who entered the George Joyce farm, Evan Low, who entered the W. O. Dunham farm and John Fields, who entered the Mary Allen farm. Jo Hunt, Ed Hunt and Little Jo Hunt had already settled near the Hatten ford and ran a mill when we came here.

"If I do say it myself, I sure could work in those days. I would make 200 ten foot rails in one day and I got fifty cents per hundred. I could cradle eight acres of oats in a day. Mr. Butler made the cradles with which we cut the wheat and oats. There was a contest between the 'turkey wing' and the 'grape-vine' cradles. On one occasion Vic Corbin came over to show us how to cradle wheat. About four o'clock Vic gave out, but 1 worked on till quitting time.

"Everybody for miles around always went when there was a house raising. They always put me on a corner. I have gone six or eight miles many a time to a house raising. I helped raise Sanford Tilley's house and it took two days to raise it for Sanford was mighty particular.

"There was a still down the creek near a spring on the Ed Aten farm. The still was run by Elkanah Glover. I helped raise the building for the still. At elections whisky was carried in buckets.

"The sheriff was the tax collector in those days. He called on me to pay my tax which was $1.50. I didn't have a cent in the world and didn't know when I would have. But the sheriff made out my receipt and gave it to me and told me to pay if I ever had anything to pay with. The tax collector is not so easy nowadays.

"I remember when prices were what we called 'mighty pore.' There was no market to sell produce and it cost so much to haul merchandise from Liberty and other river towns that we did without everything except bare necessities. People used to go to Robidoux's landing for goods, now they go to St. Joseph. I once took eggs to Little Hubbard's store in Adams Township. Little Hubbard told me he would give me two cents a dozen for what I had but not bring anymore. Chickens could not be sold at all. The same year I bought a barrel of salt of Fred Westpheling, who kept a store south of the Hubbard farm. I paid $9.00 for that barrel of salt. The salt came up the Missouri River on a steamboat to Liberty, then was hauled out by ox team to this county. This made freight charges very high.

"One summer I hauled salt from Robidoux's Landing to Elk Creek, Iowa, and was paid in corn at twenty-five cents per bushel. Once on my way through Eagleville I sold a sack of salt to Mr. Young, the merchant there. 'This is the cheapest salt you will ever have brought to your door,' I prophesied. 'I'll take it,' said he, convinced. But I proved a false prophet. "I once traded a yoke of three-year-old oxen, well-broken, for a Seth Thomas clock, second hand. It was a good clock. Little Hubbard was the clock peddler in those days. Ed Low, Asep Butler and John Music bought clocks for $40 to be in wheat which was to be hauled to Liberty.

When the time came for payment they did not have the wheat and had to pay the money. Once I sold a cow to Sam Vandivert for $8.00. While I was living at Asep Butler's I had two pigs that I had fattened. I had raised the corn myself, but when the pigs were fat I did not know what to do with them. I had no use for them and nobody else seemed to need them. Finally Ed Low and John Music agreed to help me butcher and they would take a hog apiece and give me $1.50 per hundred.

"In June, 1849, I married Rachel Flint, a sister of Larkin and Thomas Flint. When we married my wife had a feather bed and I had one horse. It took sick and died the next spring. Many times I did without things that we needed but we never went in debt. We have traded a good many years in Bethany but I have never owned a Bethany merchant five dollars in my life. We never got anything till we could pay for it.

"The first school house in our part of the country stood less than fifty yards from the present Maize school house. Ed Low, Asep Butler, John Arnold and I cut the logs, rived the clapboards for the roof and puncheons for the floor. There was a huge fire place and greased paper windows. Hugh Ross, from Ohio, was the first teacher. He afterward went to Martinsville and married a lady named Carter. Mr. Ross was paid by subscription by the settlers. The big spring near the school house is still there but all the white oak timber was cut off some years ago for railroad ties.

"East of the school house, by the gate that goes into my pasture, there stood a big tree Harve Taylor, one of a gang of systematic horse thieves was tied to that tree and whipped until he fainted, for horse stealing. When released he was told to leave the country or they would kill him. He left, but came back later. The settlers caught him near Harris Mill and whipped him again. He left the country and settled near Richmond, Missouri, bought a farm and raised a respectable family. The linting made a man of him as he afterwards said.

"The meeting of the first court was held under a big elm tree at Harris' Mill on the west side of Big Creek near the ford in 184.5. I was there. It took all the residents in 1845 to make a crowd and then it wasn't a very large one. I helped clear off" the brush from the court house square in Bethany. I was there when the first lots were sold and remember that Harve Young bought one lot.

"We had most of our corn ground at Harris' Mill. No difference when I came to this mill, I never had to wait for my grist. Sometimes when the creek was low or frozen, we had to go over to Pole Cat Creek where Birdine Taylor had a mill. We drove oxen and had to hitch them to the sweep and grind out the grist.

"I have never been a hunter or a fisherman. I have lived on the bank of the creek most of my life, but no man ever caught me on the creek bank fishing, and I had rather split rails any day than go hunting.

"The first church organized that I know anything about was the Christian Church at Bethany. The next was Baptist, two and one-half miles from my house, under the leadership of Absolom Hardin. He also preached at Hickory Creek. He could preach like everything. The meeting was held at the log houses, and in fine weather in the woods. Almost everybody went to meeting whenever a preacher came along. There were so few places to go. I think they're going to meeting was more for sociability than for religion.

"The first graveyard I know of was the Hatton Graveyard, near Hank Joyce's farm. Ed Low's oldest boy, Alvin Low, bought corn from Mort Lantis, who hauled it and put it in the trough just as the cattle would eat it, for twelve and a half cents per bushel.

"After we had lived in the log house a long time we decided to have a frame house like some of the neighbors. I hauled the lumber from Saint Joseph. When I had the frame up I was overcome with fear. It looked dreadfully big to me. John Music stopped one day when I was at work. "I don't believe I can finish it," says I "Go ahead," says Music, "and I'll help you pay out if you need the money." The frame house was finally finished and my old log smokehouse still stands. John Music was sure my friend if ever anyone was.

"I live on the land I first entered and folks, I am spry if I am over ninety years of age. I have tried to live in peace and harmony with my neighbors and lend them a helping hand when I could."

Mr. Maize died at his home in Cypress Township October 9th, 1921, at the remarkable age of ninety-nine years, two months and four days. He retained unusual mental and physical vigor for one of his age to within a few weeks of his death. 

 Harrison County| AHGP Missouri

Source: History of Harrison County, Missouri, by Geo. W. Wanamaker, Historical Publishing Company, Topeka, 1921