Mexico weekly ledger., 1902-09-18
o- AN. COUNTY, SEPT
Central Missouri so Years Ago.


umbia, was the father of t. W.
Stephens, proprietor of the Columbia
Herald and Jefferson City Tribune, and
state printer Of Missouri, and his son,
in the last edition of the Herald, re-
views his honorable and successful
life, and pays an interesting and af-
fecting filial tribute to bis memory.
In the same paper is printed a
"Story of Boone County Life" which
the late Mr.. Stephens wrote in 1895.
He was one Of the very few citizens Of
the county who lived in it when it was
organized in 1920, and, with the excep-
tion of five years between 1896 and
1871, was continuous resident OF the
county from that date until his death.
1t is doubtful If any man knew the
history of the county better, or was
more able to tell it Interestingly. He
drew an entertaining and instructive
contrast between conditions then and
now. Boone county having been
among the earliest settled counties in
the State, his description Of it is a
faithful picture of early Missouri. 1t
is, In part, as follows:
"With my father and mother, l
came to Boone county ln 1919 from
Garrard county, Kentucky. My father
purchased for $3.50 per acre 400 acres
of land four, miles east of this town on
Cedar Creek and erected dwelling,
and there spent my early life. This
region was a wilderness. We had but
two neighbors within twelve miles.
The Indians had not taken their de-
parture, and ! yet retain a vivid mem
ory OF their coming to our home and
so frightening US that my father took
the entire family and spent the night
in the woods for fear Of being massa-
cred. Wild beasts we're plentiful and
a trusty rifle was the main reliance
for food. While there was loneli-
ness, there was a grandeur, even a
solemnity, in the vast forests untouch-
ed and untenanted by man, and there
was certain freedom In this primi-
tive life, which in measure atoned
for its deSolatenesS.
"What did we raise? Corn chiefly.
Also tobacco and wheat and hemp.
But facilities for cultivating crops
were poor, although the yield was
generally good. Farm implements
were very simple. Reapers and now
ers and horse plows had not been
thought of. We raised hemp for
ropes and there used to be rope
walks, as they we're called, or places
where hemp was made into ropes.
They were crude institutions and
passed away long ago.
"What did we pay for articles Of
home use? Much more than we do
now. Calico cost from 20 to so cents
per yard, now it costs from to 81
cents; domestic cotton by the bolt,
lSa cents, now Ct cents; lawns, 374 to
rs cents, now 16 cents, nails, l6 cents,
now and cents; sugar, 1Sa cents,
now At cents; bacon, II cents, now 10
fcents. Good cows sold at from S5 to
81 and horses at from S35 TO S65. As
to the products Of the farm, which
were not produced by labor-saving
machines as at present, but by hard
manual labor, we got for wheat 97i
cents, and for corn not over 20 cents
per bushel. When the lower prices of
products and the higher cost OF articles
Of consumption then as compared
with the present are considered, you
will see that the cost Of living then
was at least four times greater than
now. When to this are added the
numerous inconvenience Of pioneer
life, 1t can be safely stated that living
is ten times easier now than then.
The people of the present time do not
know the meaning Of economy and
prlvation. Poor people, ,so-called, now
live better than rich ones did then.
Buggies and carriages were unknown.
There were mot half-dozen in the
country before 1880, and not dozen by
1s40. Wagons were luxury. If peo-
pie rode at all it was on horseback.
Many walked. 1t was no uncommon
thing for numbers to walk to church
barefooted and then go out into the
bushes and put on their shoes in sight
of the church. You smile. You
would be surprised If would give you
the names of many who underwent
these privations. 1t would no doubt
shock many Of their descendants who
think themselves high up in social
station. People dressed in the plain
est manner. | knew one rich man
who wore the same OvercOat for forty
years. The old-timers made their
money by saving, saving, saving. We
have entered a new era. The present
habit of dressing and spending money
is an entirely different from the old
way as anything you can imagine.
Seventy years ago $3.50 or $500 a year
would support an average Boone coun-
| ty family. Now it takes ten times,