NEW JUDICIAL DISTRICTS.

The session of the County Court, on March 4, 1878, made the new judicial districts, as provided for under the new constitution, and in accordance with the law. The first district was composed of the townships of Wilson, Jackson, Jefferson, Madison and Trenton. The second district of Marion, Liberty, Myres, Franklin, Washington, Taylor, Harrison and Lincoln.

The temperance craze struck Grundy county in 1878, and while it probably did little harm, no very lasting good seemed to have resulted. Still there are some pretty strong temperance advocates in the county, and these have exercised a powerful influence for good. Drunken men are the exception and not the rule among the people.

WOOL.

The Wool-growers' Association is still one of the institutions of Grundy and has done much to advance the sheep industry of the county. The care of sheep and improved breeds has caused some pretty heavy fleeces of wool to be produced, and the sheep raisers are taking a just pride in their work. The organization is energetically pursuing its work of improvement. Its president is S. Asher, and secretary, L. Gass. At a competitive shearing in May, 1881, fourteen sheep were sheared, and the fleeces and sheep weighed as follows:

The average was just seventeen pounds. Afterward four other fine representatives were sheared; one buck, two years old, twenty-four and threefourths; said to be the heaviest fleece ever sheared in Grundy county. The other three weighed respectively, twenty and one-half, ram; and sixteen and one-half, and fifteen, ewes. Four bucks sheared eighty-four and threefourths pounds.

MARRIAGE LICENSE.

The first marriage license issued from the recorder's office of Grundy county, was to Wm. A. Brock and Sarah F. Atkinson. It was issued on Sunday, June 26th, 1881, the first day that the law went into effect; a second license was issued on the same day, to Wm. C. Urton and Maggie A. Evans.

This is the first license law of the State and is likely to bring in quite a

revenue.

The Circuit Court docket at the April term, 1881, showed an even one hundred cases to be disposed of.

THOSE BONDS.

About the time the philosophers of the city of Trenton were delving in the burial mounds of a pre-historic race, the home people put in some practical work in the shape of voting to cancel the present indebtedness of the county by issuing a new series of bonds, drawing six per cent interest to take up the present bonded debt upon which they were paying eight per cent. The vote was taken June 14th and carried by 103 majority, but only a light vote was polled. The city debt was, also, carried by a large majority for the same purpose.

COUNTY DEBT.

The county debt at this writing amounts to $155,000 and the city debt $46,000. The new series of 5-20 bonds are now being engraved for both. When received they will be exchanged for the old bonds, or sold at not less than par, and the old bonds purchased with the proceeds. The old bonds. are now legally subject to redemption and being at a higher rate of interest, eight per cent, quite a saving is made in issuing the new bonds and taking up the old. Mr. D. C. Pugh, the efficient county clerk, was offered a premium of two per cent, August 29th, 1881, for $1,000 bonds. The credit of Grundy county stands high.

CHAPTER VI.

RESOURCES.

Central Location-Surface-Coal-Building Stone-Timber and Prairie-Climate--SoilCereals-Tobacco-Average Crop-Fruits and Vegetables-Vintage-Grasses-StockNumber of Head of Live Stock.

"The fatter earth by handling we may find,

With ease distinguished from the meager kind;
'Poor soil will crumble into dust; the rich
Will to the fingers cleave like clammy pitch."

Grundy county has a commanding and central location, in central north Missouri, and in the heart of the rich and prosperous valley of the Grand River. It is bounded on the north by Mercer county; on the east, by Sullivan and Linn; south by Livingston, and on the west by Daviess and Harrison. Its northern border is about twenty-two miles south of the Iowa State line, on the fortieth parallel of latitude, and at an altitude of 900 feet above the water level.

In climate, soil, production and in the face of the country, it has no superior and few equals in the State of Missouri, and at this time presents to the eye a magnificent field of what can be accomplished by the earnest hearts and willing hands of an active, enterprising and educated people. The value of its location is further enhanced by the fact that the counties surrounding are alike rich in the productiveness of their soil, the energy and culture of their people, and that this surrounding is tributary in a large degree to the prosperity of Grundy county and her chief city, Trenton.

ITS SURFACE.

The face of the country is gently undulating and is beautifully diversified by rolling prairie, timbered hills and valleys, with intervals of groves, giving the whole country the appearance of a grand park, especially adapted not only to the wants of man, but to his pleasures. Hills, and vales, and open prairies, here and there patches of woodland, running streams of pure water, springs bubbling up, cool and refreshing their liquid light, building sites with grand views, and mill sites with good water-power, all these tend not only to please the eye, but show plainly to the close observer, the farmer and the manufacturer, the fact that solid wealth, as well as pleasure, can be found within the borders of Grundy county. About two-thirds of the county is prairie, and the remainder woodland. Her prairies, as remarked before, are high and rolling, while her timbered upland and the banks of her running streams are covered with groves of white, burr, red, spotted, pin, black and water oaks, hard and soft maple, white and black shell-bark hickory, grey ash, walnut, elm, hackberry, sycamore, linden, mulberry and cotton

wood, and a large variety of small growth. The Grand River, the principal stream in the county, is formed by the junction of the Thompson River, coming in from the northwest section of the county until it meets the Weldon or east fork of the river which comes in from the north, about one and a half miles north of Trenton, the county seat, flowing southward, next westward, then curving and winding around the south of the city; thence southerly as far as Chillicothe. From that city it takes a southeasterly course through Livingston county, forming the dividing line between Carroll and Chariton counties, and empties into the waters of the Missouri near Brunswick. Among lesser streams are Big Muddy, Honey Creek and their numerous branches, No Creek and Medicine River, east of the Grand, with Gees, Hickory, Wolf, Coon, Sugar and Middle creeks,west, giving abundant water. This grand water supply is, and can be, supplemented by wells, where excellent water is reached at a depth of from fifteen to fifty feet. In Grand River and Thompson's Fork can be found an abundance of waterpower for milling purposes, and it is already utilized to a considerable extent by flouring and saw mills. Other streams have, also, power for milling purposes, and for the present and in the prospective wants of the future, the water-power of Grundy county is complete.

Of other native resources of the county which are likely to have great bearing upon her future prosperity, and which will add largely to the wealth and population are the

COAL AND BUILDING STONE,

which cover a large area, and are found in considerable quantities. Sandstone rock, à good building and macadamizing stone, is found in nearly every section of the county, and in quantity to meet all practical demands. Limestone is also found in large quantities; in fact Grundy county is underlaid with limestone, and the famous blue-grass, which has given Kentucky a world-wide fame, is indigenous to her soil, and has already given her the name of the blue-grass region of Missouri. She will, ere long, become the home of the race-horse and the blooded cattle of the State.

Coal underlies at least two-thirds of the county. Up to the present, little attention has been paid to coal mining. With the exception of the mines worked at the county seat this inexhaustible supply of wealth is yet to be developed.

We have thus placed on record that Grundy county is rich in timber, rich in her prairie lands, while the wealth of a State lies under her soil in limestone, in sandstone and her coal strata. Her water power can be utilized to add to this aggregate of productiveness, and yet not half has been told. We have spoken of her forests and streams, of the glorious beauty of her prairies and woodland, and the wealth of her mineral resources, but of her soil and its wonderful richness, of her health-giving climate, of her peo

ple, noted for their energy, enterprise and culture, we have yet to speak. There is beauty and life-giving health enough in her broad fields and boundless prairies to charm even the heart of an anchorite, and draw him from his life of solitude to the bright and charming light of a happier and more glorious day.

Perhaps one of the greatest attractions, and which, when generally known, will make this region of country more sought after, is its

MILD AND HEALTHFUL CLIMATE,

caused in a great measure by its splendid drainage system. You find no marshes or stagnant pools to breed malaria, but a climate that gives a spirit. and a healthful tone to all forms of life, without the bitter extremes of a northern temperature, and with that mildness which avoids the heat and hu midity of the more southern latitudes. It has thus become well known. that the valley of the Grand River has no superior in health-giving properties, and that nowhere in the Western States can be found a better or more salubrious climate.

THE SOIL.

The soil of Grundy county can be divided into two parts. That is, the top soil and the subsoil. The quality of the soil, its depth; and the question of tillage are the primary questions which arise to those who make farming their profession. The soil of Grundy county is a rich, black loam, a vegetable mold, varying in depth from six to thirty-six inches on the upland prairies, and in the valleys of the rivers and creeks is an aggregation and deposit of earth, sand and other transported matter forming a rich alluvium, from three to five feet deep, and in its generating and life-giving properties, inexhaustible.

This soil, which has been chemically analyzed, is found to be composed of carbonate of lime, phosphate of lime, magnesia, and silicious matter, is easily worked, the plow and the harrow giving it the softness of an ash bed. This salubriousness of climate and richness of soil give a wide range of production, and all the cereals, vegetables and fruits of the temperate zone are easily and successfully raised. All seem to be indigenous to the soil. With care and cultivation ample crops are raised, and the husbandman finds no cause to complain. Wheat, rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, corn, hemp, tobacco, millet, sorghum, broom-corn, etc., all of the vegetables, and grasses of which there are several hundred varieties, white and red top clover, all yield abundantly.

CEREALS.

The principal crops grown in the county are wheat, corn, oats, rye and buckwheat, the latter but little sown, the crop of 1880 being but 271 bushels. Corn, from the large quantity raised, is the leading crop, wheat in value