In 1860, a man resided about three miles below West Plains by the
name of Collins Coffey on the farm recently owned by Thomas Bolin and
some men by the name of Griffiths and Boles--(some of them resided in
West Plains and some of them resided in Thomasville, Oregon county)
and they and Coffey had a falling out with each other and the enmity
between them became very great. So the Griffiths, who lived at West
Plains went down to Thomasville and they and the Boles with a few other
friends declared that they would come up to Coffey's and mob him.
They went to work and made for themselves a uniform, procured a bugle,
fife and snare drum, procured a hack, made them a place for a candle
and aimed to come up in the night.
Coffey owned considerable stock among which was a bull about four
years old. The range then was luxuriant and there was a pond near the
side of the road that led from Thomasville and West Plains and the
bull with other cattle had lain down on the edge of the road about one
mile from Coffey's residence. They armed themselves, procured their
musicians, got into their hack, drawn by two horses and started off to
the scene of action with a bright light, with a flag flying and the
music playing. When they reached the place near where the male was
laying, he rose to his feet, squared himself and fetched a keen bellow
as though (although he was animal) he might have some information as to
their mission. They paid no attention to the action of the bull and on
their driving within about ten feet of him he made a desperate lunge
forward; they supposed that he intended to gore the horses, but missed
his aim, struck the hack near the coupling, broke the coupling pole and
turned head over heels, and fell right between the horses. The horses
became frightened, made a desperate lunge to extricate themselves, and
the bull at the same time was scuffling to extricate himself. Both
horses fell, the bull and horses were all piled into a heap, grunting
and scuffling. The occupants of the hack were all piled out in a heap,
almost in an instant, and before they could extricate themselves and
get onto their feet the bull had gotten up and was moving in the
direction of his master's house bellowing every step as if to say, "I
dare you to come any further." As soon as the posse got to their feet,
having prepared, before they started, with plenty of whiskey, and being
pretty well filled at the time of the occurrence, Boles got to his
feet, drew his pistol, cocked it and swore he could whip any bull he
ever saw, especially a one horned Coffey bull.
The hack was almost demolished and the occupants considerably bruised,
both horses crippled, and after consultation, they concluded that as
the Coffey bull had proved so successful they had better abandon their
trip and retreat "in good order" to Thomasville, leaving their horses
hitched by the roadside and the shattered hack piled up at one side of
the road.
The next morning they sent out a team and brought the horses and hack
back to Thomasville, and they were wiser and perhaps better men, as
they never again attempted to mob Coffey.
The strange feature about this matter is that the bull was never known
to be cross before this occasion, when his master was to be mobbed.
The society of the country had increased with the population, and
school houses and churches were erected all over the country, nice
farms were opened up, the dwellings changed from round log to hewed
log and frame, the people all manifested a great deal of interest in
schools and churches and the general development of the country.
Religion and Politics.
The prominent religious denominations from 1849 to 1860 consisted
chiefly of Methodists, Baptists and the Christian order; but all
appeared to recognize each other as Christians and would very often
work together, as they had in the early pioneer days.
Everything had the appearance of pointing to the day when Howell county
would become the garden spot of South Missouri.
Politically, the country was largely Democratic. In political
campaigns the Whig and Democratic candidates would canvass the country
together, and while on the stump speaking they would assail each
other's platforms in most bitter terms. After the speaking was over
they would go to the same hotel or boarding place and laugh and talk
together as though they belonged to the same political party, and
after the election was over the successful party would be recognized
by the people as the officers of the whole people. You would see no
partisan line drawn by the different courts between political parties,
but the appointments of all local officers were made according to
the qualifications of the man and not as to what party he belonged.
The author, having been born and raised by Democratic parents, was
a Democrat and acted with the Democratic party, his first vote for
president having been cast for James Buchanan. In 1860 a great
political question of the nation began to be agitated and a very bitter
feeling was manifested from the stump between the Republican and
Democratic parties.
After the Democratic party divided and the bolters nominated
Breckenridge for president, the author took part in the canvas and was
a strong advocate of Stephen A. Douglas, the regular nominee of the
Democratic party, and at the election cast his vote for Stephen A.
Douglas for president.