Jeanne Newby
It was a bright sunny morning in June of 1873 that John C. Webb left his log cabin and walked east about half a mile to plow his land. Legend has it that he uncovered a large chunk of lead that morning.
John C. Webb did not keep a journal, but there seems to be two versions of this story. One version says he hit the rock with his plow and uncovered the shiny rock. The other version says he sat down to rest and the sun struck the shiny rock, which had been uncovered by the plow.
Either way, John C. Webb’s destiny changed that day, even though it took him a few more years to take action. Webb had an idea of what he had uncovered, as there was a ruckus down by Granby, where the miners were arriving from everywhere to try their hand at mining. Webb put that shiny rock on his fireplace mantle and basically forgot about it. He did not want his farmland trampled by miners.
A drifter named Murrell stopped by the Webb cabin to beg a meal. After dinner, as Webb and Murrell were discussing mining stories, Murrell noticed the rock on the mantle. When Webb explained where he had acquired the rock, Murrell went into a frenzy. He knew that if there was a piece of lead that big on the surface there was bound to be more below the ground. Murrell’s excitement sparked an interest with Webb, and he agreed to do some digging… but it would have to wait until after the harvest.
The coolness of fall was setting in as Murrell and Webb began their search for lead in the rich farm dirt. Murrell brought nothing but mining experience to this new partnership. Webb supplied the land and the tools. But alas, the miners had troubles. The shaft kept filling up with water. Each morning, they would have to empty out the water before they began their digging. It didn’t take long for Murrell to become disinterested, after all, he didn’t have anything invested but his time. So when, W.A. Daugherty, Webb’s neighbor came along and offered Murrell $25 for his interest in the mine, Murrell jumped at the deal and was on his way. He usually only made a dollar a day in the mines, so $25 was a small fortune.
Webb was showing a little discouragement while he and Daugherty continued to battle the water. They hadn’t uncovered anything of importance but did notice a small vein that Daugherty marked with a hatchet.
Granville P. Ashcraft relates how fortune looked down on him one day as he was showing his temper. He had just secured a deal at the Oronogo Circle mine for $1,500, got mad and sold it for a measly $50 then wandered over toward Webb City to see what Daugherty was doing. It didn’t take much to convince Webb to sell his interest in the mine to Ashcraft, but he only leased the land, allowing him to draw royalty on anything they might find.
Ashcraft remembered that Thomas N. Davey from Carthage had been working on a pump that just might work to “beat the water.” After the water was drained, with the help of Benjamin F. Hatcher, Ashcraft asked Daugherty if he had noticed any signs of mineral, and Daugherty told him about the marks he had made. Ashcraft was lowered into the mine. He drilled some holes, set in some powder and a fuse. The fuse was lit and Ashcraft had scarcely reached the 30 feet to the top when the charge exploded. After the smoke cleared, Ashcraft went back down to find that a cave-like pocket had opened up which showed a solid mass of lead. That was the beginning of Center Creek Mines and the beginning of a mad rush on Webb City.
Ashcraft made the first sale of lead from Webb City. He was reported as saying that many events in life that make history for individuals is more “a moment of chance than of design.” He said his decision of a moment, to come to Webb City to check on Daugherty, instead of heading off prospecting somewhere else, was the decision that caused him to remain in Webb City the rest of his life, except for a few trips out west. Ashcraft passed away in 1911.
The first week alone, Ashcraft took out 15,000 pounds of lead. Ashcraft eventually took about $200,000 worth of lead from that mine shaft, and before selling the Center Creek Mining Co. to A.D. Hatten and his uncle Alvin in 1888. They were heading for Joplin but decided to get off the train when it pulled into the Missouri Pacific depot, located right by the Center Creek Mine. They met with Grant Ashcraft, who made them a proposition that he would sell them the mine for $8,000 – $2,000 down and the rest in payments. Sounds like another one of those “more a moment of chance than of design.”
Ashcraft even went so far as to lease Uncle Alvin his furnished house while Ashcraft journeyed to California. Alvin and A.D. continued to mine the Center Creek Mine until they depleted the vein that Ashcraft had located. Then they had to determine what to do next. Hatten recalled that the miners out west would start in the wall, going each way to see if they could find a parallel vein, so Alvin and A.D. decided to do the same as those wise miners. A.D. Hatten said, “We opened up the greatest lead and zinc mine that it has ever been my pleasure to see. In a few months, we had made sufficient dividends to pay Mr. Ashcraft the balance we owed him, and we paid our stockholders over $100,000 in dividends.”
So let us celebrate that summer day 153 years ago this month when John C. Webb uncovered that chunk of lead and Webb City history began! It may have been three years later, in 1876, that Webb City was incorporated, but 1873 holds a special date in our history.
