Early Settlements, Clay Township, Greene County, Missouri

>From "History of Greene County, Missouri," St. Louis: Western
Historical Company, 1883.

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Mention has already been made in the general history of this volume of
the settlements that were made at an early date along the James within
the limits of this township.  The Thompson family was probably the
first.  Edward M. Thompson came to the county in 1830 and settled south
of the James.  Chas. A. Haden is one of the pioneers and is prominently
identified with the history of the township.  Samuel McCorkle, came in 
from Tennessee in 1839, and first settled in Campbell township, south-
east of Springfield.  Wm. H. Anderson located here in 1841.  A Mrs. 
Page and family are reported to have located here in 1830 or 1831. This
family was of French descent and came from St. Genevieve. Jacob Painter
entered the land whereon Fisher's cave is in 1840.  The civil war bore 
hard on Clay township.  Its citizens were preyed upon by both armies
and much of their property taken and destroyed.  At the same time near-
ly all of the able-bodied men were in the army as soldiers, on one side 
or the other.  Not always did people escape with the loss of their pro-
perty.  Some of the men of the township were inhumanly murdered.  The
case of Mr. James Thompson is the most prominent instance of this sort,
and is fully recorded on another page. (See history for 1864.)  On the
night of March 22, 1864, Elijah Hunt, a citizen of this township, was
inhumanly murdered by a party of Union militia.  Mr. Hunt was a "South-
ern man" as the Confederates were called.  He was at home on the night
in question when his murderers came up.  One of them went in the house
and Mr. Hunt accompanied him to the door, where the miscreant suddenly
turned upon him and shot him down.  The same night Joel Dodson, another
"Southern man," was murdered, presumably by the same party that killed
Hunt.  Mr. Dodson was at home, seated at his fireside, playing on a 
violin.  The party rode up, called out, and Mr. Dodson went to the door
with his violin in hand, and was shot down in cold blood.  It has not
been learned of what either Hunt or Dodson was accused, except that
each was not considered "loyal."

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