David Castle Tandy

Born 1823 | Died 1875 | Physician | Land Speculator

So, just who was Mr. David Castleman Tandy and what was his connection to our area?

If you own land in the Murphysburg Historic Residential District, specifically in Section 3, or land in other Joplin Sections 7, 10, 11 or 14, you might have seen the name of David C. Tandy on your abstract as the “original” owner of the land.  The abstract may also read, “Copy of Patent or Special Warranty Deed with dates of 1851, 1859, 1864, and “Consideration – Military Service”. Current landowners may assume that Mr. Tandy served in the military.

Self-proclaimed amateur history detectives Mary Anne Phillips and Paula Callihan decided to find out what branch of service and which war Mr. Tandy served in.  With the assistance of the Jasper County Records Department’s staff and volunteers, they discovered that the 1860 U.S. Census revealed David Tandy lived at 123 Olive in St. Louis and was married to Anna Cabell Castleman.  Mr. Tandy never resided in Joplin. According to the Bureau of Land Management’s website, Mr. Tandy acquired land all over the state of Missouri, not just in Joplin.

Continued research uncovered Mr. Tandy on the U.S. Civil War Draft Registration records from 1863-1865. The document revealed that he was a physician, that had been born in Kentucky and still lived on Olive Street in St. Louis. In the “remark” column, it revealed that Donald Cameron was hired as Tandy’s military “substitute” on November 16, 1864.  Cameron’s Civil War service was in the Eighteenth Regiment of the Missouri Infantry and was listed as a Private.

So, the question still remains—how did Tandy acquire land in Joplin? The answer lies in the Bounty-Land Warrants for Military Service, 1775-1855 Congressional Acts.  Starting in 1775, the United States granted bounty-land warrants for military service, including volunteer militias primarily to encourage volunteer enlistments. They also rewarded veterans for service during the Revolutionary War, The War of 1812, the Mexican War, a variety of Indian wars, Indian removals and other military actions during the 1850’s.

During that time the area was sparsly populated, the early Joplin pioneers, John Chandler Cox, Solomon Rothenberger, Reverend Harris Joplin and William Tingle civilized the area by forming a town.

Many veterans who received bounty-land did not take possession but sold them to another party.  The land that was granted was “public land” and the authority was granted through the “Scrip Warrant Act of 1855″.  U.S. land acquisition from Native Americans, Louisiana Purchase, etc. is a conversation for another day.

According to Joplin Title Company, the information on the actual signed Warrant has all of the necessary information going back to the land grant via the General Land Office in Springfield, Missouri. The abstract has “abbreviated” information and in this case, only shows Mr. Tandy. 

Following are some details on the original Joplin warranty deeds:

Section Three (Includes Murphysburg)           

A Fractional Quarter

• President Millard Fillmore caused the letters to be made Patent
• The US Government gave the land to William Cabell, a private in Captain Owen’s Company,of the Fourth Regiment of Kentucky Volunteers,
• Land was transferred to John Chandler Cox, an assignee of  William Cabell on September 1, 1851                                                      

Southeast Quarter

• President James Buchanan caused the letters to be made Patent
• US Government gave the land  to John Ozman a private in Captain Bryan’s Company, Maryland Militia, War 1812
• Ozman assigned the land to David C. Tandy on June 10, 1859

Did David Tandy buy the land grants from Ozman or did   he get them as an heir of his great-great grandfatherColonel William Cabell for his military service that includes:

• Colonel William Cabell (1699- 1774) 
• Graduated at the Royal College of Physicians of London
• Surgeon in the Royal Navy, then emigrated to Virginia about 1723, where he obtained extensive grants of land along the James River
• Appointed under Sherriff of Henrico 1726,
• Justice of the first Goochland County Court, 1728-9
• One of the first Justices of the first Court of Albermarle Co,.1744-1745
• Capitan in the Indian Wars, 1726
• First presiding Justice for the United States after the Declaration of Independence,
• Chosen first Senator from the eighth district
• Member of the Committee that prepared the Declaration of Rights             

Other sections of Joplin that David Tandy received or bought from heirs are:

Parts of Section Eleven

• President James Buchanan caused the letters to be made Patent
• The US Government gave the land to George Houck, Seaman, United States Ship Germantown, United States Navy, Mexican War
• Houck assigned the land to David C. Tandy on June 10, 1859

Parts of Section Seven 

• President James Buchanan caused the letters to be made Patent
• The US Government gave the land to James Gould, Private, Captain Lynch’s Company, Maryland Militia, War 1812
• Houck assigned the land to David C. Tandy on June 10, 1859

Parts of Sections Ten, Eleven, and Fourteen

• President Abraham Lincoln caused the letters to be made Patent
• The US Government gave the land to Benjamin Harding, a private in Captain Leigh’s Company, Virginia Militia, War 1812
• Harding assigns the land to David C. Tandy on December 1, 1864

Yeats later,  tracts of land were laid out in town lots and sold to such notable people as Oliver H. Pitcher, Oliver S. Pitcher (early spelling for Picher), Mrs. Adelia Moffet, William Sergeant and W. P Davis, Patrick Murphy’s business partner.

As most history chasers would say that the more answers we find, the more questions we have. Colonel William Cabell was the great-great grandfather to both David and his wife Anna Cabell Castleman Tandy.

Sources: 

• Archives of HMP, Inc.
• Bureau of Land Management website
• U. S. Census website captured on October 2, 2012
• Civil War Registration
• Congressional Acts – Bounty Land Warrants for Military Service 1775-1855
• National Archives and Records Administration’s website http://www.archivs.gov
• Find-A-Grave
• Ancestry