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Chapter 18: Early Justices of the County Court, Part Two |
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The first election in Butler County was in the late summer or the early fall of 1850. In this election Abraham Romine, John N. Yarber and William Vandover were elected members of the County Court, Succeeding Solomon Kittrell, Jonathan Sandlin and John Stevenson. They first met November 11, 1850, in Poplar Bluff, which was the first meeting of the Court in the County Seat.
Mr. Romine was elected President. He died early in 1853. The Governor appointed Barnabas Bledsoe to the vacancy. Mr. Bledsoe first met with the Court May 9, 1853. At this meeting John N. Yarber was elected President. For some reason not explained in the records Mr. Vandover did not complete his term on the Court, his last attendance being January 28, 1854. Beginning April 24, 1854, John B. Lawson served eleven days on the Court as Justice. The records mention only his attendance at Court and the order to pay him twenty-two dollars for his services. No mention is made of the retirement of Mr. Vandover. His name is simply omitted from the attendance record of the Justices.
We have very little information on Abraham Romine. According to the 1850 Census he was a native of Ohio and 54 years of age. His wife, Lidia, was 55 and born in Kentucky. At home were Mary, age 22, and Ruth, age 16, both born in Illinois, indicating that Mr. Romine had lived in that State several years before coming to Missouri. In the household also was Nancy Pedigo, age 12, born in Kentucky. Mr. Romine's farm was probably near the present Rombauer. In 1851 he was elected judge in Black River Township, which was the former Mud Creek Township. Two place names in the county, Romine Springs and the Lost Cave of the Romines, perhaps are named for him or his family. The legends of lost treasure, of silver and gold, in the cave are now almost forgotten due to indifference and neglect. Romine Springs are near Rombauer. We would welcome additional information on Abraham Romine and "Lost Cave."
John Newell Yarber was born in Orange County, North Carolina, in 1815. In 1838 he came to Mississippi County, Missouri and in 1844 settled in the future Butler County. The farm he selected lay astride the trail from the hills to the north down to where Black River entered the lowlands, the trail which would become Main Street, Poplar Bluff. The present site of the First Christian Church, Main and Davis Streets, was once a part of the Yarber Farm. Mr. Yarber built his log house on the east side of the trail which would become a road and then a city street. After the lumber mills came to Poplar Bluff, the cabin was given a new suit by inclosing the logs with weatherboarding. Many people still in Poplar Bluff remember the small cottage on North Main Street where lived Mrs. Dorcas Ann Yarber, the widow of John N. Yarber. Mrs. Yarber lived to be more than one hundred years of age. Mr. Yarber died in 1884.
Mr. Yarber was married more than once, but we have definite infomraiotn only on his last marriage. This was to Miss Dorcas Ann Freer who was born in Louisville, Kentucky, September 30, 1848. Her father was Daniel Freer who settled in Butler County when Dorcas Ann was about ten years old. She and Mr. Yarber were married in 1866. The Census of 1880 lists children of John N. Yarber as follows: Ada, Etta, Amanda and George. One or more children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Yarber after 1880, but we do not have their names. Adda was a child born to Mr. Yarber by an earlier marriage. In the Yarber home in 1880 were Joseph M. Freer, age 12, born in Missouri and Emma G. Freer, age 5, born in Arkansas.
Only a few men in early Butler County were more active in public affairs than John N. Yarber. Besides his service on the County Court he was Justice of the Peace, Public Administrator, Coroner, Collector and Deputy Sheriff. His friends and neighbors referred to him as "Judge Yarber."
William Vandover was of Dutch descent, a grandson of Thomas Vandover who had come to America from Holland sometime in the latter half of the seventeen hundreds. Thomas Vandover had a son, James, who settled in Southeast Missouri, but the location is unknown to us. Three sons of James Vandover settled along or near Little Black River near the mouth of Beaver Dam Creek. Their names were William, Theodorick and John. William was born in Virginia in 1815. His wife was Patsy Harris, a native of Missouri. At the time of the 1850 Census William and Patsy had children as follows: Micajah 12, Martha 10, Minerva 8, John 6, Lafayette 4 and Elvira 2, all born in Missouri. In the household also was John Cocran, age 21 born in Tennessee. At the time of the census Mrs. Vandover was 32 years old. The family home was west of Little Black River about seventeen miles from Poplar Bluff. To get to Poplar Bluff he had to ford Little Black River and Cane Creek. In addition to his services as County Court Justice he was school enumerator, election judge and road overseer. His farm is designated as a point on the road from Cape Girardeau to Arkansas. We respectfully tip our hat to Thomas Vandover and his long line of descendants who have helped build the Butler County of today.
We know very little about Barnabas Bledsoe, "Barney," to his neighbors. The 1850 Census states that he was then 36 years old and born in South Carolina. In the household were Rachel, age 29, born in Illinois and William, age 29, born in Tennessee. He lived in Butler Township, which at that time was the township in which Poplar Bluff was located; but we do not know the site of his farm. In addition to his Court service he was election judge, road overseer, juryman, helped lay our new roads and for several months kept an orphan child, Haston, under contract with the County Court.
We do not have any personal data on John B. Lawson who was the last member of this second set of County Court Justices. In 1856 he was election judge in Butler Township and in 1858 was assessor for the same township.
This set of Justices attacked with vigor the problems of the new County. The frame Courthouse commenced by the first court was completed about 1852. Many new roads were laid out and opened to transportation. This was plain hard work with ax, saw, pry pole and ox team, opening a road twenty feet wide through the forest. This Court built the first bridges in the County, across the St. Francis River at the Indian Ford, across Black River and Little Raft slough at Poplar Bluff, across Cane Creek at "the leadings from Brannum's Old Mill to Poplar Bluff" and across Pike Slough Lake, located not named. Judges were appointed for the first Presidential election in Butler County, the first Monday in November, 1852.
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