Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/220

 160 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST IHSSOURI Perry county; in the same year Plattin town- ship was laid out, it was east of Big River. Thei'e was no court house building in the district. During the period until 1820, the courts were usually held in the various dwell- ings. In 1808 we find the court to have met in the house of James Maxwell; John Price's tavern was freqiientl.y used, as was also the house of Henry Dodge. This court of quarter sessions, as may be seen from the record of its work, had some- what the same jurisdiction as the present county courts. It had also criminal juris- diction. Felony cases were tried by courts of o.yer and terminer. The first murder trial in the district was held in 1810. Peter John- son was tried at this time for the murder of John Spear; Edward Hempstead was the at- torney general and prosecuted the case, while Henry M. Breckenridge and James A. Graham appeared for the defendant. The trial re- sulted in the conviction of Johnson, and in execution of the sentence he was hanged on the third day of August. According to the barbarous custom of the time the hanging was public. It took place on the hill near the academy building and was witnessed by almost the entire population of the town. Only one other execution took place in Ste. Genevieve county during this period. There were other cases of homicide but only two persons were executed. One of the famous killings was that of Captain De Mun, who was the com- mander of the body of militia known as the Dragoons, who lived in New Bourbon, and was a very prominent citizen. He and William McArthur, who was a brother-in-law of Louis F. Linn, were candidates for the territorial house of representatives in 1816. A difficulty arose between them concerning some state- ments charging McArthur with connection with a band of counterfeiters. De ]Mun had repeated these charges and was challenged by ilcArthur to a duel. This was refused by De Mun on the ground that the challenger ■^^•as not a gentleman. Threats were then made on both sides and at the occasion of their first meeting, which occurred on the stairway in the house used by the court, they both fired. McArthur was not hurt, but De ilun was killed. No charge was preferred against McArthiir, as he was very generally held to be justified in the killing. We have given an account in another place of the celebrated duel between Thomas T. Crittenden and Doctor Walter Fenwick. Doctor Fenwick was buried in the Catholic cemetery and his grave is still to be seen. The first county court under the state gov- ernment met in Ste. Genevieve. May 21, 1821. It was composed of James Pratte, James Aus- tin and James W. Smith. The court ap- pointed Thomas Oliver as clerk, and he con- tinued to hold the office luitil his death in 1826. At this fir.st meeting of the court the county was divided into two townships, Ste. Genevieve and Saline ; the former was di- vided in 1827 and the north part was erected into the town.ship called Jackson. In 1832 Beauvais township was formed from parts of Saline and Ste. Genevieve and named in honor of St. Gem Beauvais; Union township was ci'cated in 1834 from the western part of Jackson. A jail was erected in 1875 at a cost of .''^8,000 and at the same time a building for the use of the county clerk was erected. In 1883 the present court house w^as built; it is a two-story brick building and cost $10,000. Ste. Genevieve county has a poor farm which i( bought in 1880 from Jules F. Janis.