First Settlements, Cass Township, Greene County, Missouri >From "History of Greene County, Missouri," St. Louis: Western Historical Company, 1883. ********************************************************************** The first settlements in Cass township were made in township 30, range 23, and on and near the Whittenberg prairie. The first settlers were Peter Whittenberg, Isaac Hasten, I. Cook, John Murray, James Gilmore, John Griffiths, James Adams, Jacob Perryman, Archibald Morris, Chas. Peck, J. Johnson, J. Simmons and Isaac Julian, who came in at various periods from 1830 to 1837. Wm. Johnson was also one of the first sett- lers, and so was Jesse Kelly. John Richardson made a settlement on the prairie as early as 1834, and Charles L. Peck came in 1835. Wm. Kill- ingsworth came to the prairie in 1839, and Charles McClue, in the same year. Wm. McClure, in 1837 came from East Tennessee, and settled on the prairie in section 31, township 31, range 23, where he is still living in the enjoyment of a hale old age. Isaac Julian, father of S. H. Julian, arrived in 1837, and made a settlement on section 34, of township 31, range 23. He was a native of North Carolina, but came to Missouri from Tennessee, and his sons have been prominent and influen- tial citizens. The place where Isaac Julian first settled was improved by a man named Payne. Archibald Morris was an early resident of the eastern end of the prairie. At Cave spring John Grigsby was an early resident. His location was immediately at the spring. The farm of Dr. L. T. Watson was first improved by John Dillard, an East Tennesseean. Thomas Fanon, from East Tennessee, was another early settler. Isaac Hastings, likewise an emigrant from East Tenn., settled about a mile east of Cave spring about 1835. Esquire John W. Wadlow came to Greene county from old Virginia in 1837, and settled on section 14, of town- ship 30, range 23, and has since lived in that immediate neighborhood. Isaac Cook, about 1835, came from Tenn., and settled on section 36, township 30, range 23. Where Mr. Biggs now lives, on the Melville road William Parish made a settlement in 1837. He was a Kentuckian, and the last general muster ever held in the county came off at his place in 1844. Of these general musters a writer in one of the Springfield pap- ers, a few years since, said: "These general musters were the scenes of considerable excitement, and brought together people from all parts of the country. Three of these musters were held yearly, the company, battalion and regimental musters. The two former were commonly held in the spring, and the regimental muster, the grandest occasion of all, came off in the autumn, and was a time long to be remembered. After the muster at Uncle Billy Parrish's the militia disbanded and never assembled together again on muster day." James Gilmore came from East Tennessee, in 1835, and lived in Cass township, on the place where he first settled, until his death in August, 1879. W. L. B. Lay, an East Tennesseean, but who lived in Indiana, settled on Clear Creek, in the southwest part of Cass township, in 1837, and after living there ten years removed to Center township. One of the first, if not the first, marriages in Cass township was that of Archibald Morris and a daughter of old Peter Whittenberg, and her death, a few months after the marr- iage, was one of the first demises in the community. Dr. Constantine Perkins was the first physician. Rev. Jeff. Montgomery, a Cumberland Presbyterian, and Rev. E. P. Noel, O. S. Presbyterian, were the first ministers. Montgomery preached at old Isaac Julian's and Noel at Grandma Renshaw's, and under the arbor that was the first temple of religious worship built in the township. (See history of Mt. Zion church.) A. D. White was a pioneer school teacher, and taught his first school at Charles Peck's, where there was a primitive school house, built of logs, by the settlers, without public aid of any sort. Cass township was first organized by the county court May 1, 1846 and named for Gen. Lewis Cass, of Michigan, who two years later was the Democratic candidate for President. At the head of the petition ask- ing for the creation of the township was the name of Jacob Perryman. During the civil war a large majority of the people of Cass township were for the Union, and sent many men into the Union, or Federal army. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Joe Miller Penny Harrell ====================================================================