Chariton County, Missouri - The whole text, 1896 (part 1 of 6)

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In presenting to the public this volume, the publishers consider it incimibent upon them to make some acknowledgment of the many courtesies and favors we have received in the compilation of the matter herein contained, and the generous approval with which an appreciative pu))lic have responded by their subscriptions. This volume has l)een prepared in response to the prevailing and popular demand for the preservation of local history and biography. The design of the present work is more to gather and preserve in attractive form, while fresh with the evidence of truth, the enormous fund of perishing occurrences, than to al)stract from insufficient contemporaneous data remote, doubtful or incorrect conclusions.

Fully aware of our inability to furnish a perfect history, an accomplishment vouchsafed to the imagination only of the dreamer or the theorist, we make no pretentions of having prepared a work devoid of blemish. To him who has not attempted the compilation of such a work, the obstacles to be surmounted are unknown. Notwithstanding the fact that the whole country has suffered under a financial crisis of intense severity, and commercial business of all kinds has been in a state of almost total prostration, we cannot help acknowledging, under such circumstances, an almost unexpected and flattering result. In this connection we desire to return to Hon. Perry S. Rader, of Brunswick, and author of Rader's History of Missouri, our especial thanks for valuable favors received, in the loan of a number of cuts appearing in the lirst part of this work, as used in his history.

Believing that all thoughtful people, at present and in future, will recognize and appreciate the importance of this Historical, Pictorial AND Biographical Record of so promising a county, . and the great benefit that will result, we remain

Part

N conforniity with the idea expressed by that o;reatest of the Enoflish historians, ]\Iacaulay, and one of the most brilliant writers of the nineteenth century, expressed in the following, " The history of a country is best told in a record of the lives of its people," has this Portrait and Biographical Record of Chariton county Ijeen prepared. Inasmuch as this county is only a municipal part of the great commonwealth of Missouri, a brief sketch of the " Im])erial State" may not be amiss in this connection.

^Missouri, after one of the most bitter and hotly contested controversies that ever threatened the political skies the birth of a new child in the great sisterhood of states, and lasting throughout a number of years, Avas formally admitted to all the rights, privileges and immunities of a state to which she sought to be clothed, August 10, 1821. Due to the bitterness and animosity engendered by the agitation of the slavery question throughout the length and breadth of the nation, attending the admission of tlie state to the union, immigration was tardy and the wealth and population of the state increased very slowly; but a country destined to be among the foremost of the union in natural resources, material wealth, tinancial [)rosperity, agricultural and commercial activities, was not to lie in a dormant state very long.

At that time the most ardent imagination never conceived of the progress which was to mark the history of this great state. The adventurous pioneer who pitched his tent upon these broad prairies, or threaded the dark labyrinths of the lonely forest, little thought that a mighty tide of ])hysical and intellectual strength would so soon follow in his footsteps, to populate, l)uild up and enrich the domain which he was just then entering upon. Such, however, has been the case, for year after year civilization advanced further and further until today the mountains, the hills and the valleys ; yes even the rocks and the caverns, resound with the noise and din of busy millions. With its population of nearly 3,000,000, Missouri embracing an area of 65,350 square miles, or 41,821,0D3 acres, would accommodate another million families very easily, and still have room for another million or two without crowding. Rich in nature's noblest productions, o;rand in historic memories, interestino; in varied landscapes of mountain and prairie, meadows, hills and streamlets, this state should claim more than a passings notice. The geographical center of the United States, Missouri has always occiipied a prominent place in our country's history. In general resources Missouri is certainly the i iiperial state. Every known mineral is found within her borders in quanties large and. small. Many years before any permanent settlement was made in the state by the whites, lead was mined within the limits of the state at a number of points along the Mississippi, while to-day, hundreds of mines are opened and many of them being successfully operated. Copper and zinc ore have been found in a number of varieties and mines have been opened and successfully worked, yielding good returns. Zinc, especially, is found in abundant (juantities in nearly all of the lead mines in the southwestern part of the state. Prominent among the minerals which have done so much towards advertising Missouri as a mining state is its inexhaustible beds of iron. Of this ore she is aljundantly supplied with the best and purest quality. While iron ore is found in paying quantities in twenty-live or thirty counties of the state, the greatest deposits are perhaps those of Iron Mountain, being 200 feet high and covering an area of 500 acres, producing a metal which by analysis contains from 65 to 69 per cent, of pure metalic iron. Although the development of her coal fields is yet in its infancy, Missouri has been abundantly supplied with the heat producing black diamond. The fact has been proven by geological surveys that the coal deposits of the state are almost innumerable, embracing all varieties of the l>ituminous coal, easy of access, from whose beds generations yet unborn may extract an ample supply to meet the comforts of life. Unimportant with the foregoing, yet the source of great wealth, are the sandstones of the state, its gypsum, and lime, clays and paints, and its mineral waters.

To discuss at length the many natural resources with which an allwise and beneficent Creator has seen fit to bless this state, would be a very arduous task and a delicate responsibility which we do not desire to assiuiie here. Nature has done nuich for Missouri and Missourians in turn are improving their God-given opportunities. Situated as she is, from a geographical standpoint and as to population, in the center of the United States, the great commonwealth of Missouri could in an emergency, provide the entire country with the necessaries of life for quite a lenghty period. The state is exceptionally well watered, drouths are uncommon, floods rare, and the fertility of the soil such that a total failure of crops is unknown.

Its climate is mild, salubrious and healthful. No sandstorms sweep over her prairies, no simooms devast her tields nor do "northers" scatter disease in her train. In agriculture, Missouri ranks third in the union, in the value of its farm products. The soil is diversified and capable of producing not only grains and fruits common to temperate zones but cotton and semi-tropical fruits. Its corn-fields yield upwards of 200,0()0,()00 bushels yearly, and while not strictly a small grain state, from 60,(,)00,00<J to 75,000,000 Imshels of wheat and other grain are harvested every year. Every vegetable and fruit which can be grown in the temperate zone can be raised here protital)ly if carefully and intelligently undertaken. Its potatoes, sweet and Irish, are among the finest produced in the country, while its grapes, apples, pears, peaches, plums, apricots and quinces are large and delicious in flavor. Tobacco and cotton are also cultivated with success. Soil and scenery of every known type are found within her borders. While the state possesses no exceptionally high mountains, her people boast of forests and hills delightful to the eye and overflowing with wealth a])()ve and below the surface.

Missouri is truly a great commonwealth of happy homes. Her ])eople are industrious and intelligent and consequently contented and happy. The state has never indulged in wild advertising schemes to induce strangers to come here and purchase property at fabulous prices, that the owners might be able to pay their deljts and leave the country. AVhile it has had much to contend with, it has come out grandly, paying all its de])ts. To-day her bonds command a higher premium than those of any other state. Her school fund is the largest and her pul)lic school system will compare favorably with sister states that have had the advantage of many more years of experience. No state in, the union possesses so many advantages and our people appreciate the fact. With the "Father of Waters" washing the entire eastern border, the "Big Muddy" dividing the state in twain, and a perfect network of railroads leading to excellent markets on either side, profit in all kinds of business is assured, hence the people of the state are satisfied to live and die on Missouri soil. They are proud of the state and cherish its grand memories with grateful devotion. They love its laws, revere its institutions and are loyal to its government. Tlsej nr§ eharmed by its grandeur and picturesque beauty of its seen- ery and never tire of the splendid panorama of widening views that stretch out into the dim distance until earth and sky seem to meet. She is one of the fairest states of the sisterhood, well worthy of the following eloquent tribute j^aid her by Hon. Wm. H. Wallace in a speech delivered by him at Kansas City in 1890, as follows:

Grand Old Missouri

"Grand, beautiful, magniticent Missouri! Where rolling prairies, fertile valleys, mighty forests, placid lakes, majestic rivers, enchant the eye and woo the heart; where flowers of every hue and clime freshen in the eveninof dews till the green ivy of the north and the fragrant magnolia of the south meet each other in a common home and rebuking sectional hate entwine their arms in tenderest love; where l)irds t)f every note and plumage wend their merry flight, from the hummingbird that flutters in the honeysuckle to the eagle that builds his eyrie in the craggy clifl', while the mocking bird, the nightengale and the bobolink Avake the forest with ringing melodies sweet as those that rose in paradise; where the perch, the croppy and the bass leap in the sunbeams and the hunter's horn rouses the fleet footed fox and the bounding deer ! Fertile, bounteous, exhaustless Missouri. Where yellow harvests are locked in the golden sunshine rich as those that ripened in the land of Nile; where corn and cotton flourish in a common soil, and the apple and peach grow in luscious beauty side ))y side; where exhaustless beds of coal, lead and zinc lie sleeping in the earth, and mountains of iron await the blazing forge. Enterprising, majestic, imperial Missouri. Where more than half a million souls have swelled our number during the past decade; where the lights of a genuine Christian civilization, like vestal virgins, holds their vigils, unerring and undying as the silvery stars, and where under the soft and hallowed flame Progress, like the Hebrew giant, l)ursting the withes protection is ever tying about his limits, is leaping forward in the great race for material wealth and glory with l)ounding strides unsurpassed in all the sisterhood of states. Educated, intelligent. Godfearing Missouri. Where school houses so thickly dot the hills and plains that voice meet voice from merry children romping on the lea till one vast chorus muants the skies; where from every city, village, hamlet, the graceful sjjires and the church going bell call the wav to Heaven; where thousands of Christian, homes cluster by the rivers and' on the hill tops, with the open fire and the dancing flames, with the: old arm chair and the well worn Bible - cherished scenes, where first we learned to lisp the name of father, mother, sister, brother,

Portrait And Biographical Record

Sacred, tender, hallowed old Missouri soil. Beloved land of niino^led joy and o^rief ! Where all the Howers of youth have grown and bloomed and childhood's merry laughter, in gleeful echoes, linger still to cheer and thrill the drooping heart. Where many a hope has perished in an hour and many a falling tear has found a grave; where our mothers first taught us to kneel in prayer, and where, under the willows and by the brooks, the forms of loved ones gone before us await our coming to slumber by them till the resurrection morn."

Kentucky, Aug. 11, 1807; was educated for the bar; removed to Missouri in 1830 and elected to the State Legislature in 1834 and '38; in 1841 was appointed Judge of the Platte county circuit court, and in 1843 was appointed a senator in Congress, and subsequently elected for two successive terms. He served for one day as President of the ^- United States, holding the office for twenty-four hours on Sunday, between the o-oing out of one President and the incoming of his successor. Upon his retirement from the senate, he turned his attention to agriculture, and died in 1886.

Bates. - Organized Jan. 29, 1841, and was named for Hon. Edward Bates, of St. Louis, and a native of Goochland county, Virginia; born September 4, 1793; moved to St. Louis in 1814; studied law for two years, and began to ])ractice in 1816. In 1818 was proseciitin Of attorney of 8t. Louis circuit; in l82o a delegate to the State Constitutional convention, and tlie same year a})- pointed Attorney-General of tiie new state of Missouri; in lcS24: was ap-

^I:; the Missouri District, and in 182<! ^ was elected a representative in Congress, In 1850 lie declined the appointment, by President Fillmore, of Secretary of War, and in 1853 was elected J udge of the St. Louis Land Court, which he afterwards resigned. In 1856 he presided at the Whig convention of Baltimore, and in 1858 i-eceived from Harvard University the degree of LL, 1). His death occurred in St. Louis, March 25, 1869.

Bollinger. - Organized March 1, 1851, was named in honor of Maj. Geo. F. Bollinger, one of the first settlers and a prominent member of the Territorial Legislature, etc. The county seat. Marble Hill, originally called Dallas, was so named from the alleged natiu'al character of the site.

Buchanan. - Organized February 10, 183i), named for Hon. James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania. The tirst county seat was Sparta, near the center of the county; in 184:6 it was moved to St. Jose[)h.

Butler. - Organized February 27, 184:t>. Xamed in honor of Gen. William O. Butler, of Kentucky, a prominent American ofticer in the war with Mexico, and democratic candidate for vice-president in 1848.

Callaway. - Organized November 25, 1820; was named for Capt. James Callaway, grandson of Daniel Boone, and who was killed by the Indians in the southern part of Montgomery county, March 8, 1815. Camden, - Originally created Jan. 21), 1841, and called Kinderhook, for the country seat of President Van l)uren. Jn 18-13 the name was changed to Camden, for a county in North Carolina.

Caldwell, - Oro^anized Decenil)er 26, 1836; was named for Col. «John Caldwell, of Kentucky, ]»y the author of the organizino- act, Alex W. Doniphan.

Cape Gikarueau. - One of the oria;inal ''districts" oro;anized October 1, 1812; reduced to its present limits March .5, 184U, Named for the town founded l)y Louis Lorimerin 1794. Jackson, the county seat, was incorporated in 1824 and named for "Old Hickory."

Cass. - Oro-anized September 14, 1835, and first called Van Buren, in lu)nor of President Van Buren, whom Missourians at that day tlelighted to honor; but in 1849, after he had been the presidential candidate of the Free Soil party in the preceding canvass, the name was changed to Cass, in honor of Lewis Cass, of Michigan, the Democratic candidate in 1848, defeated l)y Gen, Taylor.

Chariton. - Organized November 16, 182U, and named for the town of Chariton, which was laid out in 1817, and located near the mouth of the river of that name. Lewis and Clark were of the opinion that the original name of the Chariton was ""Theriaton", but others asserted that the word is old French, and signifies a chariot or little wagon, a corruption of charrette probably. The first county seat was Chariton, long extinct. Keytesville, the present county seat was laid out in 1832 and named by its fonder, James Keyte, for himself.

Clark. - Organized in 1838, (many authorities say 1818, but the Clark county then organized was in Arkansas) named in honor of Gov, WnL Clark, of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and the first Governor of the Territory of Missouri proper, serving from 1813 to 182U.

Cooper. - Organizer December 17, 1818, was named for Captain Sarshell Cooper, another prominent pioneer, killed by the Indians while seated at his own lireside in '"Cooper's Fort," Howard county, April 14, 1814. Boonville, the county seat, was laid out in 1817 and named for Daniel Boone.

Dade. - Organized January 29, 1841, and was named for Major Dade, of Seminole Massacre fame. The name of the coimty seat, Greenfield, has no special significance.

Dallas. - Originally called Niangua, and organized in 1S42; changed to Dallas, December 10, 1844, and named in honor of Hon. Geo. M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania, then vice-President elect.

Daviess. - Organized December 29, 1836; was named in honor of Col. Jos. H. Daviess, of Kentuck}', who fell at the battle of Tippecanoe, in 1811. Gallatin, the count}" seat, was laid out in 1837 and named for the old Swiss financier, Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury from 1801 to 1813.

Dent. - Organized February 10, 1851. Named in honor of Lewis Dent, a Tennessean, who settled in the county in 1835, and was its first representative, elected in 1862. Salem, the county seat, was located in 1852. Perhaps, when christened, its founders had in mind the Hebrew word Salem, signifying peace.

DuNKLix. - Organized February 14, 1845, was named in honor of Daniel Dunklin, Governor of the State from 1832 to 1836; Surveyor- General of the United States, etc.

Franklin. - Organized December 11, 1818; was named in honor of Benjamin Franklin. The first county seat was at Newport, but in 1830 was removed to Union.

Gasconade. - Organized November 25, 1820; named for the river. Peduced to its present limits (nearly) 1835. Hermann was laid out in 1837, and became the county seat in 1845.

Col. Richard Gentry, of Boone County, who fell at the head of the ^Missouri regiment in the battle against the Seminole Indians at Okeechobee, Fla., on Christmas day, 1S37. The county seat, Albany, was at lirst called Athens.

Greene. - Organized Januaiy 2, 1833; named for General Nathaniel Greene, of the War of the Revolution. Springfield, the county seat, was named for the seat of justice of Robertson county, Tenn.

Grundy. - Organized January 2, 1841; was named for Hon. Felix Grundy, of Tennessee, attorney-general of the United States from 1838 to 1810, etc. Trenton was selected the county seat in 1813.

Harkrison. - Organized February 11, 1815. Named in honor of Hon. Albert G. Harrison, of Callaway county, a representative in Congress from the state from 1831 to 1839, dying in the latter year.

Henry. - Originally called Rives, in honor of William C. Rives, of Virginia, then a democratic politician of national reputation. Organized December 13, 1831. In 1810 Mr. Rives became a Whig, and in 1811 the name of the county was changed to Henry, in honor of Patrick Henry.

Hickory. - Organized February 11, 1815, was named for the sobriquet of Andrew Jackson. Hermitage, the county seat, was named for "Old Hickory's" residence.

Holt. - In 1839 the territory in the Platte Purchase, north of Buchanan county, was organized into the "Territory" of "Ne-at-awah," and attached to Buchanan. "Ne-at-a-wah" included the present counties of Andrew, Holt, Atchison and Nodaway. In 1811 this territory was subdivided and the county of "Nodaway" organized, but a few weeks later the Legislature changed the name to Holt, in honor of Hon. David Rice Holt, the representative from Platte county, who had died during the session, and l)uried at Jeflerson City.

Howard. - Organized January 23, 1816 and named in honor of Col. Benjamin Howard, Governor of the "Territory of Louisiana" from 1810 to 1812. Old Franklin was the first county seat but in 1823 Fayette (named for Gen. LaFayette) became the county seat.

Jaspek. - Organized January 29, 1841. Named for kSergt. eJasl)er, a noted soldier of the Revolution, who planted the flag on Fort Moultrie, amidst a shower of British cannon balls, and fell at the assault on Savannah in 1770.

Jefferson. - Organized December 8, 1818, and named for Thomas Jefferson. The first county seat was at Herculaneum. In 1835 it was removed to the present site, then called Monticello, and in 1837 the designation of the caj^ital of Jefferson was changed tq Plillsboro.

JoHN.'-o>f. - Organized Decemljer 13, 1834, and named for Colonel Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, "The Slayer of Tecumseh," who was afterwards, from 1837 to 1841, vice-president of the United States. The town of Warrensburg is the county seat and Avas founded in 1835 and named for John and Martin D. Warren.

Kn'^x. - Organized February 14, 1845, named in honor of Gen. Henry Knox, the Boston Bookseller, who during the Revolutionary War became Washington's chief of artillery, and who, the night before the battle of Trenton, we are told, "'Went about tugo-ing at his gun like a Trojan and swearing like a pirate." He was the tirst Secretary of War of the United States. Edina, the county seat, was founded in 1839 and named for the ancient capital of Scotland.

Laclede - Organized February 24, 1849, and named for Pierre Laclede Liguest, often called Laclede, the founder of St. Louis. The county seat, Lebanon, was named for a town in Tennessee.

Lafayette. - Organized November 16, 1820. In 1334 the name of the county was changed from Lillard to Lafayette in honor of Marquis de la Fayette. Lexington is the county seat, but the first county seat was Mt. Vernon.

Lawrence. -The first organization of a county called Lawrence in 1818, was never perfected. The present county was created February 25, 1845 and named for the gallant Yankee sea captain, James Lawrence, who said, "Don't give up the ship." Mt. Vernon, tl e county seat, was located the same year.

Lewis. - Organized Jan. 2, 1833, was named for Capt. Merriwether Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark expedition, who was Governor of the Territory of Louisiana from 1807 to 1809, and who committed suicide in Tennessee the latter year while on his way to Washington.

born in Louisville, Kentucky, November 5, 1796; studied medicine, and in 1809 removed to Missouri; in 1814 assisted in tighting- the batties of his country, and in 1827 was elected to the State Legislature. In 1833 he was elected a senator in Congress, serving until his death, which occurred at St. Genevieve, Missouri, Oct. 3, 1843. Throughout his active career he identified himself with the people of the Mississippi valley, l)y whom his death was greatly regretted. Livingston. - Organized January 6, 1837. Was named for Hon.

Mercer. - Organized February 14, 1845. Named in honor of Gen. Hugh Mercer, of the Revolution; Princetown, the county seat, was so called for the battle in which he lost his life.

MiLivER. - Organized February 6, 1837; was named in honor of John Miller, a Colonel under Harrison in the War of 1812; Governor of Missouri from 1826 to 1832, and member of Congress from 1836 to 1842.

Moniteau. - Organized February 14, 1845, and named for the stream, whose name is a corruption of the Indian word Manitou, meaning the Deity.

Morgan. - Organized January 5, 1833, and named for General Daniel Morgan, who commanded the famous riflemen in the Revolution. The first county seat was at Millville, now extinct, but in 1834 was removed to Versailles.

New Madrid. - One of the original "'districts." Organized October 1, 1812, and named for the town (the county seat) which properly speaking, was founded by Gen. Morgan, of New Jersey, in 1788.

Newton. - Organized Deceml)er 31, 1838; was named in honor of Sergt. Newton, the comrade of Jasper, the Revolutionary hero. The name given the county seat, Neosho, is a corruption of the Osage Indian word, Ne-o-zho.

Nodaway. - Organized February 14, 1845, and was named for the stream flowing through it. The name is a corruption of Ni-di-wah, a Sac and Fox Indian word, neaning "hearsay.'" (It will be remembered that the original designation of Holt county was Nodaway.) Maryville, the county seat, was laid off in 1845, and named for its first lady resident, ISIrs. Mary Graham.

Osage. - Organized January 29, 1841, and named for the river which forms the greater portion of its western boundary. The river was named by the French, more than 100 years ago, from the tribe of Indians upon its banks. Linn, the county seat, was named in honor of Senator Lewis F. Linn.

Ozark. - Orcranized January 29, 1841. In 1843 the name was chancred to Decatur, in honor of the famous fio;htino; Commodore, Stephen Decatur, but in 1845 its present title was restored.

Pemiscot. - Organized February 19, 1801, was named for the hirge bayou within its borders. The word signifies "liquid nnid."''' Gayoso, the county seat, was named for a prominent Spanish official of the territorial days.

Perry. - Organized November 16, 1820, and was named in honor of Commodore Oliver H. Perry, the hero of Lake Erie. Perryville, the county seat, was located in 1821.

Pettis. - Organized January 26, 1833; was named in honor of Hon. Spencer Pettis, of St. Louis, and a memljer of Congress from Missouri in 1828-31, and who was killed in a duel with Maj. Thomas Biddle, on Bloody Island, in the latter year. The first county seat was estal)lished at St. Helena, but in 1837 it was removed to Georgetown and in 1862 to Sedalia. The last named town was laid out in 1859 and named by its founder, Gen. George R. Smith, for his daughter, Sarah, who was familiarly called "Sade" and "Sed."

Phelps. - Organized November 13, 1857, and was named in honor of Hon. John S. Phelps, of Greene county, member of Congress from 1844 to 1862 and Governor from 1877 to 1881.

Pike. - Organized December 14, 1818. Named in honor of Gen. Zebulon Pike, who explored the Upper Mississippi in 1805; visited Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico and other territory of the west in 1806; discovered the mountain which yet bears the name of Pike's Peak, and who was killed at the battle of York, in Canada, in April, 1813. Bowling Green was laid out in 1819, and became the county seat in 1824, upon its removal from Louisiana.

Platte. - ^Organized December 31, 1838, and was named indirectly for the Platte river, which flows through it, and from which the Platte Purchase was named. Platte City, the county seat, was originally called Falls of Platte.

Polk. - Organized March 13, 1835, and named in honor of James K. Polk, of Tennessee, who afterwards, in 1844, became President. He had many admirers among the first settlers, who had known him in Tennessee before their removal to Missouri.

hero of the Mexican war, he having led an expedition from Missouri, which in many respects is considered the most wonderful military expedition in all history. The Missourians, under the command of Col. Doniphan, traveled from this state throug-h an uninhabited country, to Santa Fe, a distance of 000 miles in less than tifty days. Col. Doniphan's expedition traveled 3,000 miles, fought many battles with a loss of less than fifty men, and gained for the United States, New Mexico, a

St. Louis. - One of the orio-inal "districts," was oro;anized Oct. 1, 1812, and named for the town, which in turn was named for Kino; Louis XV of France, havino; l)een founded by Pierre Laclede in 17()4. Clayton was made the county seat in 1875.

Saline. - Oro:anized November 25, 1820, named for its salt sprinofs. County seats in their order have been Jefferson, Jonesboro, Arrow Rock and Marshall.

Schuyler. - Organized February 14, 1845, was named for (xen. Phillip Schuyler of the Revolution. The first county seat was at Tippecanoe; Lancaster, the present capital, was laid out in 1845.

Scotland. - Organized January 21), 1841, was named by Hon. S. W. B, Carnegy, in honor of the land of his ancestors. He surveyed and named the town of Edinburg, and also the town of pjdna, in Knox county. The first courts in Scotland were held at Sand Hill, l)ut in 1843 the county seat was located at Memphis.

Scott. - Organized December 28, 1821, was named for Hon. John Scott, the first Ct)ngressman from Missouri. The first county seat was at Benton.

Shannon. - Organized January 29, 1841, was named for Hon. George F. Shannon, a prominent lawyer and politician of the state, who dropped dead in the courthouse at Palmyra, in August, 1836.

Shelby. -Organized January 2, 1835, was named in honor of (len. Isaac Shelby, who fought at King's Mountain, in the Revolution, and was sul)sequently Governor of Kentucky. The first county seat was Oak Dale, but in 1836 was located at Shelbyville.

Stoddard. - Organized January 2, 1836, was named in honor of Capt. Amos Stoddard of Connecticut, who took possession of Missouii in the name of his government after the Louisiana purchase.

Stone. - Organized February 10, 1851, was named for the stony character of - its soil. Galena, the county seat, was so named for the presents of that mineral in the vicinity.

Sullivan. - Fully organized February 16, 1843, was named l)y Hon. E. C. Morelock for his native county in Tennessee. In the preliminary organization, in 1843, the county was named Highland. The

Taney. - Organized January 6, 1837, was named in honor of Chief Justice Taney. Forsyth, the county seat, was located in 1838, and named in honor of Hon. John Forsyth; of Georgia, Secretary of State of the United States from 1834 to 1841.

Texas. - Organized February 14, 184.5, was named for the Lone Star State. Houston, the county seat, was named for Gen. Sam Houston, the "hero of San Jacinto."

Vernon. - Organized as at present February 27, 1855 and named for Hon. Miles Vernon, a member, of the State Senate from Laclede county, who fought under Gen. Jackson at New Orleans, and who presided over the Senate branch of the "Claib Jackson Legislature" which passed the "Ordinance of Secession," at Neosho, October 28, 1861. Nevada, the county seat, was originally called Nevada City, and named by Col. D. C. Hunter, for a town in California.

Washington. - Organized August 21, 1813, was named for the "Father of His Country." It is claimed that Potosi, the county seat, was first settled in 1765.

Wayne. - Organized December 11, 1818, when it comprised the greater part of the southern one third of the State. It was formerly called by the sobriquet of "the State of Wayne" and latterly "the mother of counties." It was named in honor of Gen. Anthony Wayne, of the Revolution. Greenville, the county seat, was laid out in 1818 and named for the scene of Gen. Wayne's treaty.

Worth. - Organized February 8, 1861, and named in honor of Gen. William Worth, one of the prominent American commanders in the Mexican War. Grant City, the county seat, was laid off in 1864, and named for General Grant.

Wright. - Organized January 29, 1841, was named for Hon. Silas Wright, of New York, a leading democratic statesman of that period. Hartsville was named for the owner of the site.

Population Of Missouri By Counties In 1890

Below we give the population of the state ])y counties accordino; to the census of 1890. In 1800 the total population of the state was only 7,028. Ten years later in numbered 20,845; in 1820 the census report gives it as about 66,000, while in 1850 Missouri was the home of 682,0-14 people. The next ten years increased the number to 1,182,- 012. In 1870 it was 1,721,295 and in 1880 had grown to 2,168,380. According to the last census Missouri's total population is 2,679,184, divided as follows:

In 1880 Missouri had only 14 cities and towns, each having a popidation of 400U and over, ao-o-regating 505,903. In 3 890 there were 29 cities and towns with a popuhition of 4,000 and over, aggregating 811,- 568 - an increase in the population of cities and towns of this class of 305,655, or 60.42 per cent.

Alexander McNaik, tirst Governor of the State, was born in Pennsylvania in 1774, where he received a fair P^ng-li.sh education. About the time he reached his majority, his parents died, and he and his brother agreed upon the division of their estate in the foUowing manner - that whosoever sliould l)e victor in a fair encounter should be owner of the homestead, Alexander lost and it is to that fact that he afterwards acknowledged he owed the honor of being Governor of Missouri. His removal to MissDuri was in 1804, when he located at

St. Louis and for was United States that station. In of 1811, he aj)- one of the ninefor pleasure'' then During the war of onel of Missouri United States serwas elected Govreceiving a majprover Wm. Clark, Territory for the ceding, he revotes, the entire being 9,132. Mca nund;er of years Commissary for the city tax books pears as taxed for teen "carriages held in that city. 1812, he was Col- M a 1 i t i a in the vice. In 1820 he ernor of Missouri, ity of 4,020 votes Governor of the eight years prec e i V i n g 2,556 vote of the State Nair's death oc-

Fredrick Pates, second Governor, was born in Goochland county, Virginia, in 1777 ; studied law, and at the age of twenty went to Detroit, a military post, w^here he was appointed post-master. In 1805 he was appointed, by President Jefferson, the tirst United States Judge for the Territory of Michigan ; having subsequently become a citizen of Missouri, in 1824 he was elected Governor, defeating Gen. William II. Ashley. Prior to his election, Mr. Bates had acceptably hlled many positions in the Territory, anionof others the office of Lieutenant-Governor. His death, the result of pleurisy, occurred Auo^ust 1, 1825. Abraham J. ^^'illiams, of Columbia, President of the Senate and ex officio Governor, then performed the duties of Governor until a special election in Septeml)er to till vacancy. His death occurred December 3i), 1S?)'.>, upon a farm he had [)urchased and improved, ('» miles south of Columbia.

John Miller. At the special election to till the vacancy created a very exciting and l)itter contest took place between the friends of Gen, John Miller, Judge David Todd, William C. Carr and Colonel Kufus Easton. While the population of the state was 62,000, only 4,963 votes were cast. General Miller receiving 2,380. His administration was highly satisfactory, and at its expiration was re-elected, serving until 1832. He was born in Virginia November 25, 1781; was distinguished for his courage in the last war with England; was soon afterwards appointed Register of the Land Office in Missouri and from 1837 to 1843 was a Representative of the state in Congress. His death occurred near Florisant. Mo., March 18, 1846.

Daniel Dunklin, fifth Governor of Missouri, was born in South Carolina, in 1790^ located in Missouri in 1810 and w^as a sheriff of Washington county prior to the admission of Missouri to statehood. He was elected Governor in 1832 but shortly before the exjjiration of his term, he resigned to accept the office of Surveyor- General of Missouri, Illinois and Arkansas. Ilis death occurred in Jetierson county, Missouri, Auo^. 25, 1S44, at the aofc of tifty-four years.

LiLBUKN W. BooGs, sixth (tOVernor of Missouri, was n native of Kentucky, his hiith occurrino; at Lexinoton, in 1790; was a soldier in the AVar of 1S12 and moved to Missouri in iSKi, eno-aoino- in the fur trade with the Indians. Was elected to the Legislature in 182(5 and in 18'i2 ))ecaine Lieutenant (xovernor. Prilled the unexpired term of Governor Dunklin and a DANIEL DUNKLIN. month later was elected to the office himself; was subsequently a member of the State Senate and died in 1861 in California.

Thomas Reynolds, Governor of Missouri from 1840 to 1844, was born in Bracken county, Kentucky, March 12, 1796; studied law, and when quite young settled in Illinois; was Clerk of the House of Representatives and subsequently elected a Representative and made Speaker; was Attorney-General of the State, and later Judge c)f the Supreme Court. Moved to Missouri in 1828,' settling at Fayette, Howard Co., became a meml)er of the State Legislature, and elected Governor in 1840. The principal act of Governor Reynolds"' administration, for which he will be most remend)ered, was the repeal of all laws which permitted imprisonment for de])t. The act re- pealing- this law was one of the shortest ever enacted, and simply read, "Imprisonment for debt is forever abolished/"' Governor Reynolds had poor health durinothe latter part of his administration, which was thought to have impared his sanity; causing him to become a monomaniac, committing suicide at Jefferson City, February !», 1844. Lieutenant (iovernor, iM. M. Marmaduke, of Saline county, became Governor and served until the followino- Noveml^er, being a gentleman of talent, and giving a wise and saf'e THOMAS KEYNOLDs. administration.

John C. Edwards, ninth (Tovernor of Missouri, born in Kentucky in 1806, was reared and educated in Tennessee, where he studied and was licensed to practice law; removed to Missouri in 1828; appointed Secretary of State by Governor Millei in 1830, holding the office seven years. For one term, was a member of the Legislature; elected to Congress in 1840, and Governor in 1844; a resident of California from May, 1840 until the time of his death in 1888.

Austin A. King was born in Sullivan county, Tennessee, September 20, ISol, where he was given the best educational advantages aft'orded by the coiuitry; studied law and was licenses to practice on becoming of age; removed to Missouri in 18;-30, locating in Boone county, representing that county in the Legislature in 'Sl-'SB; appointed Circuit Judge fi)r Kay county in 1837, which position he held until elected Governor of Missouri, the term of that 'Ivv office expiring in 1853. In 1802 john c. edavards.

King

he was again placed upon the bench in Kay county, but in that year was elected a Representative from Missouri to the Thirty-eighth Congress, serving on the conniiittee on the , Judiciary. His death occurred in St. Louis, April 22, 1870.

Sterling Price, was born in Virginia, in 1801), and educated at Hampden - Sidney College. Moved to Missouri in 1881, first settling at Fayette, nnd two yeais later at Keytesville, Charit( n county, where he engaged in the mercantile and hotel business for two years, when he removed to a large farm a few miles south of that place; was elected to the Legislature in 18i0, and re-elected in 1842, being chosen Speaker at both times; was a Representative in Congress from 184.5 to 1847. At the breaking out of the Mexican War, he resigned his position and was commissioned by President Polk to raise and command a regiment, rising to the position of Brigadier-General 'l)efore its close. As an anti-Benton democrat, In 1852 he was elected Governor of Missouri, defeating James Winston, the Whig candidate, })y a majority of 13,461 out of 79,029 votes cast. In 1860 Gen Price was an enthusiastic supporter of Stephen A. Douglas for the Presidency and was elected a delegate and made chairman of the convention which declared Missouri would not secede. General Price fought nobly for the Union, but his friends all being against him, in May, 1862, he finally succumbed and joined the ^/^

Gen. Sterling Price

Majoi'-Geneijil, his nauie becomino: a household word throuiihoiit the South for his oaUant service in behalf of the Confederacy, until it was van(][uished. At the close of the war, (len. Price located at St. Louis, eno-aoino- in the connnission business. His death occurred in that city in ISIh.

Trustkn Polk, twelfth Governor of Missouri, was born in Sussex county, Delaware, May 29, 1811; (graduated at Yale College in 1831, and studied law at Yale Law School. In 1835 he emic^rated to Missouri, cnoao-int>: in the practice of his profession; durino; his absence from the state f >r the Ijenetit of his health, in 1845, he was chosen a member of the convention called to remodel the State Constitution; was a Presidential elector in 1848, and was elected Governor of Mis-

Tru.Sten Polk

^^S^^M^^ soLiri in 1856, but soon after resigned for a seat in the United States Senate, for a term of six years, from March 4, 1857; was apjjointed a aieml)er on Foreign Affairs and C'hiims; hnt on January 1(>, 18(5j?, was expelled by the re- })ublican members upon the charge of disloyalty. Gov. Polk was a gentleman of clean habits and great honor and sincerity. After the Avar his public acts were in the interest of his church and the cducatianal interests of the state. His death occurred in St. Louis in 1870. Ujoon the resignation of (xovernor Polk, Lieutenant-Goverernor, Hancock Jackson, of Randolph county, performed the duties of

Robert M. Stewart, w^as Ijorn in New York, in 1815, where he received a good education; taught school; studied law and Avas admitted to the bar at Louisville, Kentucky; removed to JVIissouri in 1839 and a few years later located at St. Joseph, where he engaged in the practice of his profession. In 18-1:5 he was elected a member of the State Constitutional Convention, where he soon gained considerable reputation as a debater. From 1846 to 1857 he was a meml>er of the State Legislature; during the latter year was elected Governor, giving a satisfactory administraticn. After his retirement as Governor, he became editor of the Herald at St. Joseph, until failing health forced his retirement. His death occurred in 1871. kobert m. stewart.

Claiborne F. Jackson, Governor of Missouri in 1860, was born in Fleming; county, Kentucky, April 4, 1807, and emig-ratecl to Missouri in 1822, was a captain in the Black Hawk War, and for twelve years a member of the State Legislature; was a prime mover in the organizations of the banking institutions of the State and at one time was Bank Commissioner ; elected Governor in 1860. AVas for a short time a General in the Confederate Army. The Columbia Herald in a special edition issued in 18!*5, speaks of Governor Jackson as fol- lows: "Governor Claiborne F. Jackson was one of the most conspicuous figures that Missouri ever knew. It was declared in 1861, and later, that he was a weak man, but at the same time no man in the history of the West had so much to do with its affairs or its progress. He was the Governor of Missouri at the outbreak of the war, and his efforts to lead the State into the Confederacy were met ))y the most determined opposition. He was the uncle of the younger Marmaduke, and had a great love for Missouri which nothing could undo. He had been reared in the South, and his many social and political ties bound him to her [)eople.'" His death occurred at Little Rock, Arkansas, December 6, 18G2, loved and admired by all Missourians.

llAMILTO^' K. (lAMBiJ-: was born hi Virginia in ITiJl and educated at the Hani])den Sidney College ; emigrated to Missouri in 1818, settling in Howard count}', receiving the appointment of Prosecuting

Hamilton R. Gamble

Attorney of a territory enil)racing at that time nearly one-third of Missouri. Soon after the death of (jov. Bates he located at St. Louis where he gained a well deserved reputation as a lawyer. In 1846 he was a member of the Legislature, and in 1852 Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, serving for three years, at that time being a Whig. After the breaking out of the war Governor Jackson was deposed from the Governorship and Gamble was chosen provisional Governor by a convention in August, 1861, for one year, 1)at at the convention in 18H2, he was retained until after the election in November, 1S(U, Governor (Ta]ul)le was a cfcntlonian of great power, highminded and exceedingly popular. His death occurred in St. Louis, January 81, 1874, and his funeral was attended by the largest numl)er of })eople ever seen at an occasion of that character in St. Louis.

Governor. In order of succession the honors rightly fell to Lieutenant-Governor Thomas C. Reynolds, who at that tinip was accompanying the Confederate Armies of Missouri, and the convention elevated Hall to the Governorship. Governor Hall was born at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in 1820 ; graduated at Yale at the age of nineteen, and admitted to the bar at Huntsville, Missouri, in 1841 ; a year later he located at St. Joseph and became eminent in his profession ; was a representative from Missouri to the Thirtieth, TlHrty-tirst and Thirty-second Congresses. Died at St. Joseph November 1, 1832.

Thomas C. Fletcher, Governor of Missouri from January 2, 18(5.5, to 1869 ; was the tirst Repul)lican, the first native born and up to that time the youngest Governor of the state. Of 101,937 votes, Fletcher received 71,531 votes to 30,406 cast for his democratic opponent, Thomas L. Price. Governor Fletcher Avas liorn in

Joseph W. Mcclurg

Joseph W. McClurg was born in St. Louis county, Missouri, February 22, 1818; taught school in Louisiana and Mississippi at the age of IT, and was a deputy sheriff in St Louis before he was twenty-one. In 1841 he located in Texas and was admitted to the bar; in 1841 engaged in the mercantile business in Missouri; was Colonel of the Osage Regiment of

Infantry, and also of a cavalry regiment; a member of the State Convention in 1862; was a Representative from Missouri to the Thirtyeighth, Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses. Elected Governor of Missouri in 1868 and was a candidate for re-election in 1870 but was defeated. In 1889 he was appointed by President Harrison, Register of the United States Land Office at Springfield, Mo.

B. Gratz Brown was born in Lexington, Kentucky, May 28, 1826; graduated at Yale in 1847; studied law in Louisville, and located at St. Louis, Missouri; was a member of the State Legislature from 18.52 to 1858; assisted in the establishment of the Missouri Democrat^ and was its editor from 1854 to 1851). In 1861 he volunteered and raised a L^nion Reo-iment, and l)ecame Colonel. Elected to the LUiited States Senate in 1863, by the radical emancipationist, serving on many important committees. In 1872 he recived acompli-

B. Gratz Brown

Silas Woodson, Governor of Missouri from 1873 to 1875, was l)orn in Kentucky in 1819, and received his early training in the ''log-school-house'' of the neighborhood, which was supplemented l»y a thorough course of study and reading in after years; when twenty-one he was licensed to practice law, and three years later was elected to the Legislature, being re-elected several times in the next twelve years. In 1854 he removed to Missouri, locating at St. Joseph, where he soon rose to considera))le prominence as a lawyer; was elected Circuit Judo-e in '60; chairman of the Democratic State Convention in 1872 and nominated l)y the democrats as a compromise candidate. He was inaugurated January 8, 1873 and served two years.

Silas Woodson

Charles H. Hardin was born in the State of Kentucky in 1819, but removed to Missouri at a very early day; reared at ColumV)ia he enjoyed the advantages of good schools, and afterwards graduated from Miami University, of Ohio; entered upon the practice of law at Fulton, Callaway county, and in 1848 was elected prosecuting attorney of the third judicial circuit; from 1852 to 1860 was a Whig member of the Legislature; represented Boone and Callaway counties in the State Senate, and in 1873 was elected Governor, making an admiral)le, conserva- tive executiv^e. Amonof other noteworthy acts of Governor Hardin's life was the endowment of Hardin College, at Mexico, Mo., an educational institution for o-irls, named in his honor.

John S. Phelps was l)orn December 22, 18U, in Hartford Co., Connecticut: was educated in Hartford at Washino-ton (now Trinity) Colleoe, and studied law in the office of his father, Elisha Phelps; emio-rated to Missouri in 1837, locatinof at Sprinofield; elected to the Legislature in 1840, and JOHN s. PHELPS. four ycars later was sent as a Representative to the Twenty-ninth Congress, which position he retained until the close of the Thirty-sixth Congress; was a meml)er of the Select Committee of Thirty-three on the Rebellious States, and was also re-elected to the Thirty-seventh Congress; a Colonel of Volunteers in 1861; Military Governor of Arkansas, by appointment of President Lincoln in 1862; Commissioner to settle war claims of Indiana in 1867, and elected Governor of Missouri in 1876.

Thomas T. Crittenden, Governor of Missouri for four years from January 1881, was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, January 2, 1834; received his primary education in the log-cabin-schoolhouse of Cloverport, on the Ohio river, and in 1855 graduated at Centre College; studied law at Frankfort with his uncle, J. J. Crittenden and removed to Missouri locating at Lexington; enrolled in the State Militia in 1862 and was made Lieutenant-Colonel; thomas t. ckittendhn.

John S. Marmaduke

was appointed Attorney-General in 1864 to till an unexpired term; was elected to Congress from Missouri in 1872 and again in 1876, serving- on the committee on Invalid Pensions and elected Governor of Missouri in 1880. Among other important acts of his administratiini, for which he will he kindly remembered, was the breaking up of the James Boys l)and of outlaws, one of the most daring rings of murderers, bank and train rolibers that ever cursed civilization.

born in March, 1833; until seventeen years of age remained actively engaged upon his father's farm; attended Yale College for two years and then entered Harvard College; received the appointment of a United States cadet to the IVIilitary Academy at West Point, New York, in 1853; graduated in 18.57 and received the appointment t)f Second-Lieutenant in the United States army; resigned and returned to Missouri in 1860; entered the Confederate ariny as a Colonel in 1861, and the following year was made Brigadier-General for gallant service performed at the Battle of Shiloh. In 1864 he was promoted to Major-General, but was soon afterwards taken prisoner and held until after the close of the war; engaged in various business pursuits and for several years that of journalism; was Secretary of the Missouri State Board of Agriculture in 1873 and 1874; from albert p. mokehouse.

Thomas C. Reynolds

1875 to 1884 was State Railway Commissioner, and Governor of Missouri for three years, death claiminir him December 28, 1887. Immediately after the death of Governor Marmaxliike, Lieutenant-Governor Albert P. Morehouse assumed charged of the Governorship, which he held for one year. Governor Morehouse was a native of Ohio, and removed to Missouri in 1856, first teachino; school and afterwards engawing in the practice of law.

David K. Francis, was l)orn in Kentucky in 1850, and with his parents moved to St. Louis when sixteen years of age; attended AVashington University for four years, graduating in 1870. During the war, from 1861 to 1864, he was a newsboy in Kichmond, Kentucky, and it was from his savings in the sale of papers that a portion of his collegiate exi)enses were paid. After leaving school Mr. Francis successfully engaged in various commercial pursuits and soon rose to a position of prominence. In 1884 he became President of the Merchant's Exchange, of St. Louis, and in March of the followingyear was elected Mayor of that city; was elected Governor of Missouri in 1888 and inaugurated January 14, 188i>. His administration as chief magistrate was attended by the happiest results, earning for him the respect not only of the people of his own state but of (others abroad. August 25, 1S1>6, he was appointed by President Cleveland Secretary of the Interior to fill vacancy created by the resigna- david k. francis.

William J. Stone, present Governor of Missouri, was born in Madison county, Kentucky, May 7, 1848; educated at Missouri University; studied law and became Prosecuting Attorney of Vernon county from 1873 to 1874; was elector on the Tilden and Hendricks ticket in 1876; elected to the 49th, 50th and 51st Congresses, and was elected Governor oovKRxoK wu.T.rAM J. STONE. ^f Missourl, upou the democratic

Daniel Boone, the great pioneer settler of Missouri, and a famous backwoodsman and trapper, to whose courao;e, endurance and skill, America, and especially Missouri and Kentucky, owe much, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, July 14, 1732. In early life he emigrated to North Carolina; but his love of the wilderness not beino; sufficiently gratified there, he planned an expedition into Kentucky, then a wilderness almost unknown, reaching the Red River in June, 1769. Here he was captured by the Indians, but escaped, and accidently falling in with his brother who had pursued his track, they lived together in a cabin during the entire winter. In May of the following year Boone's brother started home and Daniel was left alone in the perilous forest. In July the brother returned, and after exploring a considerable portion of country, they returned in 1771 to Carolina. Soon afterwards Boone was engaged by a Carolina company to purchase the lands on the south side of the Kentucky river, where, in 1775, he built a fort about 18 miles southeast of the present Lexington, on the site now occupied by the town of Boonesboroagh, which, though now of trivial size, was the seat of the first Legislature west of the Alleganies. In 1777 and '78 the place was frequently besieged by the Indians, bat successfully resisted each attack until at length the Indians retired. In 1704, having lost his lands in Kentucky by means of a defective title, and through some hunters hearing of the wonderous fertility of the soil west of the Mississippi River and the great abundance of game; he resolved to emigrate west, locating in what is now known as Warren coimty, Missouri, where the Spanish authorities gave him a grant of 2,000 acres of land. He had a great love for the wilderness, and spent much of his time at his favorite occupation of hunting and trapping bears, heing the chief hero among the many rude and picturesque figures of the frontier. Countless stories are related of his many adventures and hair-breath escapes. His death occurred September 26, 1820, in his house which was a stone structure, in St. Charles county, the first of its kind erected in the state. His body was buried in a cherry coffin prepared by himself,

Poetrait And Biographical Record Daniel Boone And His Faithful Dog

" The accompanying ilhistration is a faithful copy of his only original portrait in existence, which was painted from life hy Chester Harding, and now hangs in the Kentucky state house at Frankfort.

Lewis & Clark's Expedition, Through the instrumentality of President Jefferson, in 1803, an expedition headed by Merriwether Lewis, Private Secretary to the President, and William Clark, of the American army, set out to explore the country west of the Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean. The first winter was spent encamped on the banks of the Mississippi, opposite the mouth of the Missouri. May 16, 1804, the company, composed of nine young men of Kentucky, 14 soldiers. GEN MEKRiwETHER LEWIS. two Canadian boatmen, an interpreter and a hunter, with one keel boat fifty odd feet long, and two open boats, began their ascent of the Missouri. Passing the little French village of St. Charles, the first large tributary of the Missouri reached was that of the Osage. Proceeding on their journey, passing the Kansas, in due time the Platte was reached. Here they found a number of tribes of Indians, among others the PaAvnees, Ottoes and Kites. Having covered a distance of sixteen hundred miles, the winter of 1804-5 was spent near the center of Dakota. April 7, 1805, the party again resumed their journey, 32 strong, and continued to ascend the "Big Muddy" until the mouth of the Yellowstone was reached, at the confluence of three nearly equal streams, which were named Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin, then President, Secretary of State and Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. Jefferson, the northernmost of the three, was ascended to its source. In August, horses and a guide were procured from the Shoshone Indians and the journey continued _

Rufus Easton

Septeml)er 22. October 7, they went clown the Kooskoosy, a branch of the Cohnnbia, reaching the mouth of that river, November 15, having traveled more than four thousand miles from the mouth of the Missouri river. Spending the third winter on the banks of the Columbia river, the homeward journey was begun March 23, 1806, reaching St. Louis, September 23, 1806, after an absence of two years and four months. For the service of the men composing this expedition. Congress made valuable grants of land.

RuFUS Easton. Prominent among the noted men of Missouri in Territorial days, and for a numlier of years after her admission to statehood, was Rufus Easton, the first postmaster of St. Louis. Mr. Easton was born in Connecticut in 177-i, and emigrated to Missouri in 1804, having previously distinguished himself in New York as an attorney, he received the appointment of a Territorial Judge of the United States Court, becoming the attorney of the court two years later ; was post.iiaster of St. Louis in 1808, and was sent to Congress in 1813. At the organization of Missouri under state government, he l)ecame Attorney -General, which office he held until 1826 ; died in St. Charles in 1834, honored and respected throughout the State for his thorough devotion to the upbuilding and advancement of the social, moral and commercial interests of his people.

John B. Clark

born April 17, 1802; moved to Missouri and in 1824 was appointed Clerk of Howard county; engaged in the practice of law; in 1832 commanded a regiment of mounted militia during the Black Hawk War; was made Major-General of militia in 1848; a member of the Legislature during the sessions of 1850 and 1851; was commanding officer in the expulsion of the Mormons from Missouri; was elected to the Thirty- fifth Congress, and re-elected to the Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Congresses; and took part in the War of '61, as a Colonel, having been expelled from the House in July, 1861. General Clark was noted as one of the most powerful stump speakers of Missouri, and an attorney of great ability, being engaged in every important criminal cases in Central Missouri.

Thomas H. Benton, a man of iron will, sublime courage and wonderful mental ability, who was for thirty years United Stater Senator from Missouri, and probal)ly the greatest statesman in our history, was born in Orange county. North Carolina, March 14, 1772; was educated at Chapel Hill College and studied law at William and Mary College; was appointed a Lieutenant-Colonel in the U. S. army in 1801, but resigned his commission the following year, and commenced the practice of law at Nashville, Tennessee, having for his friend and patron Andrew Jackson, at that time Judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee. During the War of 1812, with England, Mr. Benton was one of Gen. Jackson's aides de-camp. His residence in Missouri dates from 1815, when he located at St. Louis, where he engaged in journalism. Through his paper he made a strong fight for the admission of Missouri as a state, and on that event occurring, in 1820, with David Barton, he was made one of the new Senators, a position he acceptably filled, uninterruptedly, for thirty years. Immediately after his appearance in the Senate he took a prominent part in the deliberations of that body, and soon became recognized as one of the foremost statesmen in the country, and an able leader in the councils of his nation. In the early years of his service as Senator he gave much of his time and influence to the advocacy of such land laws as should faciliate the great pioneer movement which was then going in the west and southwest. During the two administrations of General Jackson, Colonel Benton was one of his staunchest supporters, and his influence was felt by the democratic party in its relation to every important question. His conservatism, or love for hard money, silver and gold, earned for him the euphonious title of "Old Bullion." In

1849, when the famous Jackson resolutions were passed by the Missouri Legislature, instructing the Missouri representatives in Congress to vole for the non-interference with slavery, Mr. Benton refused. At the next session of the General Assembly the opposing Democrats voted with the Whigs, defeating Col. Benton, and electing Henry S. Geyer, of St. Louis, as his successor. In the fall of 1849, Chariton county was honored by the presence of Col. Banton. According to })revious announcement he expected to speak at Brunswick, but on ac- count of the cholera at that place, he visited Keytesville for two days and aldresssd the people upon the political issues that were then before the public. From 1853 to 185.5 he represented St. Louis in Congress, but was defeated as a candidate for Governor in 1850, after which he retired to private life. The Thirty-eighth General Assembly voted to place his statue with that of Frank P. Blair, Jr., in Washington as a representative Missouri statesmen. His death occured in

Henry S. Geyer, who succeeded Mr. Benton in the Senate, was born in Fredrick county, Maryland, in 1798, removed to Missouri about 1815, and adopted the ])rofes^i )n of law, in which he became eminent as a practitioner; took an active part in politics and was a member of the convention in 1820 which framed the state constitution; was an active meml)er of the Legislature, and HENRY s. gever. Served as Speaker of the house for the first live years after the admission of Missouri to statehood; was elected Senator in 1851 and served until 1857, being the only Whig ever elected to the Senate from Missouri. While in Washington, Mr. Geyer made an argument in the famous Dred Scott case which attracted attention throughout the world. As a lawyer, he stood at the head of his profession; a man of excellent ability, pleasing manners and of high character. His death occurred at St. Louis, March 5, 1859.

John Rice Jones, of Pike county; located in Missouri in 1808, and was the first English lawyer in the state, and a member of Missouri's first Supreme (^ourt. He had been President of the Territorial Council and a member of the first Constitutional Convention. His death occurred in 1824, He was a man of great popularity, high character and excellent ability.

1830; studied law, graduating three years later at the Transylvania Law School, in Kentucky, and soon afterwards settled in Boone county, Missouri, engagino; in the practice of law Avith distinction; elected a member of the Legislature in 188S, and was again elected in 1840-16- 54-60-68, serving at least half the time as a member of the Senate. In his school history of Missouri, Hon. P. S. Kader, of Brunswick, speaks of Mr. Rollins as follows: ''To him is largely due the educational system of Missouri. lie is properly called the Father of the

James S. Rollins

State University, and his efforts aided the public school system and secured the normal schools, the school of mines, and two of the lunatic asylums. He did much towards building up the great railroad systems of the state." His first bill presented to the Legislature was one providing for the esta])lishment of the University and his first speech was made in support of that bill. In 1857 he was defeated as the Whig candidate for Governor by Austin A. King. In 1860 was elected a Representative from Missouri to the Thirty-seventh Congress, serving on the committee on commerce and expenditures in the War Department; was re-elected to the Thirty-eighth Congress, serving on the committee on Naval Atiairs. He was an able and polished speaker, and a loyal, patriotic citizen. He died in 1881).

James S. Green, a Virginian, born in Fa(][uier county, February 28, 1817, with limited means and a common English education, lojAMES s. GREEN. cated in Lewis county, Missouri, in 1837; after many struggles with the world was admitted to the bar, in 1840, and soon acquired a lucrative practice; was a Presidential elector in 1844, and a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1845; was elected a member of Congress in 1846, serving two terms; in 1849 took the stump and made an aggressive and successful warfare against Hon. Thomas Benton; in 1853 President Pierce appointed him Charge d^ Affairs^ and subsequently Minister Resident, at Bogota, New Granada; was again elected a member of Congress, in 1856, but before taking his seat was elected to the United States Senate, where he remained until 1861, when he was expelled for secession utterances. He died at St. Louis, January 19, 1870.

Judge William B. Napton, for twenty-five years a member of the Supreme Court, and perha])s the finest scholar and most learned juror ever actively connected with Missouri affairs, was a native of New Jersey, graduated at Princeton College, and came to Missouri at the age of twenty-four years, locating at Fayette, then the po- william b. napton.

litical center of the state, becoming editor of the Booneslick Democrat; was Attorney-General in 1836; in 1839 become a meml)er of the Supreme Court, servini^ until 1852, when he was ousted by the provisional convention. He immediately be<>;an the practice of law at St. Louis, where he oraincd o;i-eat distinction. In 18T3, Governor Woodson, upon the death of fJuds'e Ewino-, and without the knowledo;e of fJudo^e Nai)ton, made out his appointment and sent him his commission as a member of the Court; an honor he accepted, and in 1874 was elected to till out the unexpired term of Judge Ewing, serving until 1881. The Supreme Court of the State would do honor to any nation in history, and Judge Napton was among its greatest meml^ers. Died in 1882.

Francis P. Blair, Jr

graduated at Princeton College, and studied law at Washing-ton; was admitted to the bar in Kentucky and began practice in Missouri. For the benefit of his health, in 1845, he accompanied some trappers to tiie Rocky Mountains and soon afterwards enlisted and served as a private in the war with Mexico. In 1848, he l)ecame a Free-Soil democrat, was editor for some time of the Missouri Democrat., and from 1852 served four years as a member of the Missouri Legislature. In 1856 he identitied himself with the republican party and was three times its Representative in Congress, and espoused the cause of Emancipation with great energy and courage, and to him more than any other man is due the fact that Missouri remained in the Union in 1861. At the beginning of the war against secession he entered the army as Colonel, l)ecame Brigadier-General in 1861, and Major-General in Noveml>er of the following year. He commanded at Vicksburg, and in the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, and accompanied Sherman in his famous "March to the Sea." In 1866, was appointed, by President Johnson, Collector of Customs for the Port of St. Louis, but was rejected by the Senate. In 1868 he was the democratic candidate for Vice-President on the ticket with Horatio Seymour, but was defeated; was a Senator in Congress for the unexpired term of C. D. Drake, from 1871 to 1873. In 1818 he published the "Life and Public Service of Gen. William Butler." Mr. Blair was a man of undaunted personal courage and great ability. He died Jidy !>, 1875.

Charles D. Drake, President of the Constitutional Convention of 1865, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, April 11, 1811; received an academic education; studied law, and, in 1834, located at St. Louis, engaging in the practice of liis profession. In 1861-62 took an active [)art against the secession movement, and in ""63 was elected to the Missouri State Convention; was a mem))er of the Constitution- "^ al Convention of 1865, which adopted the most stringent code ever known in this countr3^ Its most obnoxious provision was the test oath, which prevented at least one-third of the people from voting until 1872, and almost as many more would have been disfranchised ha<l the}^ sworn strictly to the truth when they came to take that oath. This test oath declared that no person should vote or hold any kind of office, who had '"^ever" engaged in hostilities, or given aid, comfort, countenance or support to persons engaged in hostilities against the government of the United States, or had given money, goods, letters or information to its enemies, or by act or word manifested his adherance to the cause of such enemies, or his sym})athy with those engaged in carrying on rebellion; or had ever been in anywise connected with any society unfriendly to such government; or had ever knowingly harbored, aided or countenanced any person engaged in guerrilla warfare; or who had ever done any act to prevent being enrolled into the militia service of the Union or the State. Any person who had done any of these things, or other things similar, could not vote, teach in any public or private school, practice law, preach the gospel, "or ))e competent as a minister of any religious denomination, to preach, teach, or solemnize marriage, unless such person shall have first taken said oath." It not only required allegiance and loyalty to the Union from that time on, which woidd have been a just and wise provision, but it applied to all men who had ever borne arms against the United States, or had sympathized at any time with those who did take u[) arms, or had done them acts of common kindness, or had refused to bear arms for the national government. All disloyal citizens attempting to teach or preach without taking this oath were to be fined not less than live hundred dollars, or committed to prison not less than six months, or both; and if they falsely took it, they were to be tried for perjury and punished with imprisonment in the penitentiary. In January of 1S67 Mr.. Drake was elected to the United States senate, serving until 1871, when he resigned to become Judge of the Court of Claims at Washington. Some of the most stringent features of the constitution were overruled by the Supreme Court, and, with the assistance of the lil)eral republicans, the democrats repealed all the olmoxious laws.

Brig. -Gen. Nathaniel Lyon was born at Ashford, Connecticut, and educated at West Point, and was an officer of the regular army; served with distinction at Contreas, Churubusco, and the City of Mexico during the Mexican War; served in Kansas during the political struggles and supported the cause of the Free- Soil party. In 18(51 was placed in command of the United States arsenal at St. Louis, and soon afterwards succeeded General Harney in command of the department. He defeated the Confederates at Booneville, and at Du:^ Spring under McColloch. He was defeated at Wilson's Creek l)y a superior force, and during- the battle was killed.

Missouri'S Senators

MISSOURI'S SENATORS. Francis Marion Cockrell, a faithful and conscientious representative of Missouri in the United States Senate since '75, was horn near Warrensburg, Missouri, October 1, 1834, and with the exception of Lewis V. Bogy, was the first and only native-born Senator ever elected from Missouri; was reared on a farm, and received a common school education, which was finished at Chapel Hill College, in Lafayette county, Missouri, an institution lielongincr to the Cumberland Presbyterian church; studied law and on beino- admitted to the bar devoted himself to the practice of his piofession, not entering upon a political life until his fortieth year; was a soldier in the Confederate Army, commanding Cockrell's Brigade, composed of Missourians. After the war he resumed the practice of his profession at Warrensburg. In 1874 FRANXis M. cocKRELL. he was a democratic candidate for

Governor, but was defeated by Charles H. Harden by a small majority. In January of 1875 he was elected a Senator in Congress from Missouri, a position he has since filled with credit and distinction.

George Graham Vest, one of the most brilliant debaters in the Senate, and a gentleman of unquestioned strength and ability, who has made a most admiral )le Senator, was born at Frankfort, Kentucky, December 6, 1830; graduated at Centre College, Kentucky, in 1848 and at the Law Department of the Transylvania University, in 1853; removed to Missouri the same year, locating at Georgetown, and afterwards moved to Booneville, engaging in the practice of law; was a Representative from Cooper county in the Legislature in 1860- 61; a Representative in the Confederate Congress two years, and a member of the Confederate Senate one year. In 1867 he returned to Missouri and resumed the practice of law, living in Sedalia. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1879, which ofiice he still holds. As an orator. Senator Vest has long been regarded george g, vest.

as amono; the ablest the State lias ever had, and is a leader of the de.nocratic side of the Senate. His present home is at Kansas City where he is always welcomed by his many friends who have an oijportunity of meetino- him when he returns from his Ion**; and tiresome labors at Washington every year.

De Soto Discovers The Mississippi

The tirst white man to press foot to Missouri soil accompanied Fernando de Soto upon his wonderful expedition of 1541-42 in search of the boundless wealth of ffold and silver reinited to lie hidden in the mines north of the Gulf of Mexico. Undaunted by the result of previous explorations, he equipped a band of twenty officers, twenty-four priests and about six hundred men, at his own expense, and sailed from San Lucar in April 1538, with a lleet of nine vessels, which in addition to his men, carried two or three hundred horses, a herd of swine, and a number of bloodhounds, landing at the present Tamyja Bay, on the west coast of Florida, May 25, 1839. In July he sent all his ships to Havana, and then for nearly four years, in spite of hostile Indians, he pursued his way to the northwest, through a country already made hostile by the violence of the Spanish invader, Narvaez, through tangled forests and over deep swamps, in a vain search for the New Eldorado, which was believed to be richer in precious metals than any country then known. Though finding neither gold or precious stones, on A})ril 25, 1541, he reached the "Father of Waters," at a point a few miles below Memphis, and thus immortalized his name as the discoverer of the Mississippi. Constructing Ijoats and crossing the river, De Soto continued his journey to the north, into the present county of New Madrid, when the tirst white person set foot on Missouri soil. From there the expedition traveled successively in a southwest and northwest direction until they reached the highlands of White River, then south to Little Rock and Hot Springs, spending the third winter in Arkansas. Early in the spring of 1542, he marched to the Mississippi, where, overcome by disease, privation and discouragement, he died. His followers, having secretly sunk his body in the Mississippi, lest the Indians discovered his death, floated down the river to the Gulf of Mexico, and returned to their homes leaving behind no trace of civilization.

Marquette Discovers The Mouth Of The Missouri River

More than one hundred years had elapsed from the time of the discovery of the Mississippi River by De Soto, when another noted explorer entered upon the scene, in the person of Jacques Marquette, one of the most noted pioneers, of France, in the New World. He emio^rated to Canada in 1666, and a few years later, in 1673, in company with kSieur Joliet, this youno; Frenchman froii the picturesque old cathedral city of Laon; in the beautiful fertile regions lying just north of Paris, made a long journey in canoes down the Illinois and Mississippi rivers to the mouth of the grand old Missouri river which still flows with its onward course to the seas the same as it did over two hundred years ago. We have no record of any white man ever treading upon the soil eml^racing our own great state during that lapse of over one hundred years from De Soto's time down to the time of Marquette and Joliet.

Robert De La Salle

About the time of Marquette's return, Robert de La Salle, a native of Normandy, entered upon an exploration with the ho})e of finding a northwest passage to China and Japan, the scientific men of that day believing that such a passage existed in the direction of the Great Lakes. La Salle was accompanied from France by an Italian named Tonti, and was joined by Louis Hennepin, a bold and ambitious Franciscan friar. After overcoming various obstacles they arrived at the present site of Peoria, on the Illinois river. There they separated, Hennepin turning northward to discover the source of the Mississippi; La Salle descending that river in search of its mouth, leaving Tonti in command of men and supplies. La Salle reached the junction of the Illinois and Mississippi, in February, 1682, and on the 5th of April following, successfully reached the Gulf of Mexico. On the 8th of April, with imposing ceremonies, La Salle took formal possession of the country in the name of Louis XIV, the reigning king of France, in whose honor he named it Louisiana. The country thus acquired by the French embraced territory on ))oth sides of the Mississippi, including the present states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri.

This vast region, while under the jurisdiction of France, was known as the "Province of Louisiana." At the close of the "Old French War" in 1763, France gave up her share in the continent and Spain became possessor of the territory west of the Mississippi, who

The Louisiana Purchase

In 1801 Napoleon Bonaparte made a treaty with Spain, the conditions of which were that Spain should surrender to France all the territory, known as Louisiana, west of the Mississippi, in consideration of certain assistance which she expected to receive from the great war. rior in her European affairs. It was two years after this treaty was made that Mr. Laussat, a French officer, was placed in authority at New Orleans. While Napoleon justly appreciated the value of his new acquisition, its posession was a source of much perplexity. The American government was by no means pleased at this attempt of the French to re-establish themselves in Louisiana; and the English, who dominated on the seas, made it extremely hazardous for the conveyance of men and equipments into the country, and rather than have it wrested from him by this powerful foe, he determined to tantalize the mother country by adding it to the posessions of the young nation, which had succeeded in maintaining its indepen<lence in the face of her authority. Accordingly, he accepted an offer made by the United States, through the instrumentality of President Jefferson, of ^15,- 000,000, including various claims, the payment of which was assumed by the American government. On March 9, 1804, Capt. Stoddard, the representative of France, received posession of the territory, at the hands of the Spanish Governor, Delassus, at St. Louis, and on the following day transferred his authority to the United States.

The District Of Louisiana

March 26, 1804, two weeks after the transfer of authority to the United States, over the territory embraced by the Louisiana Purchase, Congress passed an act dividing Loiasiana into two parts - the "Territory of Orleans" (since 1812 the State of Louisiana) and the ''District of Louisiana,"" better known as upper Louisiana. The latter included all the province north of "Hope Encampment," a place near Chickasaw Bluffs, embracing wathin its boundaries the present states of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and a large part of Minnesota, and all the vast region extending west to the Pacific Ocean, south of the fortyninth degree of north latitude, not claimed by Spain. By the act of Congress of March 26, 1804, the executive power of the government in the Territory of Indiana was extended over the district of Louisiana, or "Upper Louisiana" as popularly called. Under the provis- ions of this act, General William Henry Harrison, Governor of Indiana, assisted hy Judges Griffin, Vanderburo; and Davis, instituted the authority of the United States in the Territory. The first courts of justice, called Courts of Common Pleas, were held during the ensuing winter in the old fort near Fifth and Walnut streets, St. Louis.

The Territory Of Louisiana

THE TERRITORY OF LOUISIANA By another act of Congress, passed March 3, 1805, the District was regularly organized into the Territory of Louisiana and General James Wilkinson was immediately appointed Governor by President Jefferson and Fredrick Bates, Secretary. Governor AA^ilkinson, together with Judges R. J. Meigs and John B. C. Lucas, of the Superior Court, constituted the Legislature of this almost boundless territory. In 1807 Capt. Merriwether Lewis, of the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition, was appointed Governor, but he committing suicide in Tennessee in September, 1809, Gen. Benjamin Howard, of Lexington, Kentucky, was designated by President Madison, as Governor in his stead. Governor Howard only served a short time, resigning October 31, of the same year to accept a Brigadier-Generalship of Rangers in the War of 1812. Upon the resignation of Governor Howard, Capt. William Clark, of the well-known Lewis and Clark Expedition, was appointed his successor, who served until the admission of the state into the Union in 1821.

Missouri A Territory

MISSOURI A TERRITORY. On the 4th day of June, 1812, the Territory of Missouri was organized by Congress, with a Governor and General Assem))ly - the latter to meet annually in the town of St. Louis. The real boundaries of the territory were the same as those of the Territory of Louisiana, but practically it consisted of only the settled parts of Missouri, comprising four districts, as follows: Cape Girardeau, St. Genevieve, St. Louis and St. Charles. The legislative power of the Territory was vested in a Governor, Legislative Council and House of Representatives. The Legislative Council consisted of nine members, and held their office five years. The first House of Representatives were thirteen in number, held their office two years and were elected by the people; under the act of Congress, the number could never exceed twenty-five, the basis of representation being one meml>er for every five hundred white males. The judical power of the Territory was vested in the Superior and Inferior Courts and in Justices of the Peace, The Superior Courts had three Judges, having original and appellate jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases. Their term of office was for four years. William Clark, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was a))pointed by the President the tirst Governor of the Territory and began his duties in 1S13. Under the act, the Territory could send one delegate to Congress. Edward Hempstead, Rufus Easton, Samuel Hammond and Matthew Lyon announced themselves in Novem- ])er as candidates for the position, Edward Hempstead was the successful one, being the iirst Territorial delegate to Congress from Missouri.

Perhaps the most interesting and instructive period in the history of Missouri is that which succeeded the application of the Territorial Legislature of 1818-19 to admission to the sisterhood of states. This request was the cause of a tierce, and one of the most exciting contests in Congress, that ever engaged the attention of that body, lasting for two consecutive sessi(ms and exciting the people to an alarming degree.

In 1818, John Scott, the Missouri Kepresentative in Congress, filed the petition for statehood. The House of Representatives passed a bill to admit the state, without slavery, but as the Senate refused to concur in the anti-slavery clause, the bill failed. Subsequently the measure was amended so as to provide for the gradual restriction of involuntary servitude, but the Senate refusing to endorse any antislavery proviso whatever, and the House insisting on that provision, the bill again failed. In 1820, while the matter was still under discussion, an amendment was presented, which settled for the time all differences between the two Houses, and allowed Missiouri to enter the Union with slavery. That amendment, famous in history as the "Missouri Compromise," is as follows:

An act to authorise the people of the Missouri Territory to form a constitution and state Government, and for the adinission of such state into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, and to prohibit slavery in certain territories. Adopted March 6, 1820.

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted. That in all that Territory ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of Thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, not included within the limits of the state contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be and is hereby fore^ier prohibited. Provided aliuays, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed, in any State or territory of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid.

acts of American Leo;islation. The pro-slavery senators consented to this measure because they saw by the determination of the House, that thej^ would l)e unable otherwise to secure the admission of Missouri.

State Convention

STATE CONVENTION. Under the act of Congress, the people of the Territory of Missouri, then organized into fifteen counties, were authorized to hold an election in May of 1820, for the purpose of choosing representatives to a State convention whose object should be the framing of a constitution. Accordingly, forty-one representatives thus chosen, met at St. Louis, June 12, and framed a constitution which took efi'ect from authority of the body itself, no provision having been made to submit it to a vote of the people. The Constitution then adopted withstood the test of parties and all efforts at material amendment from the time of its adoption till the Convention of 1865.

The Clay Compromise

On November 16, Mr. Scott presented the House of Representatives at Washington wnth a copy of the Constitution of the new state, which created a fresh debate, over the fact that the new Constitution sanctioned slavery, and because one of its articles especially enjoined that such laws should be passed as might he necessary to prevent free mulattoes and negroes from coming to or settling in the new state, under any pretex whatsoever.

The political situation growing perilous, Mr. Clay, of Kentucky, moved that a Representative from each state be appointed to act jointly with the Senate committee, in an effort to adjust the difficulty. This committee was chosen, and Mr. Clay made chairman, the Senate also appointing seven of its members to act with the joint committee. This committee, on February 26, 1821, reported to each house the following:

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled. That Missouri shall be admitted into this Union on an equal footing with the original States, in all respects whatever, upon the fundamental condition that the fourth clause of the twenty-sixth section of the third article of the Constitution, submitted on the part of said state to Congress, shall never be construed to authorize the passage of any law, and that no law shall be passed in conformity thereto, by which any citizen of either of the states in this Union -jhall be excluded from the enjoyment of any of the privileges and immunities to which such citizen is entitled under the Constitution of the United States. Provided, That the Legislature of said state, by a solemn public act, shall declare the assent of the said state to the said fundamental condition, and shall transmit to the President of the United States, on or before the fourth Monday in November next, an authentic copy of the said act; upon the receipt whereof the President, by proclamation, shall announce the fact; whereupon, and without any further proceeding on the part of Congress, the admission of the said state into the Union shall be considered as complete.

The First General Assembly

According to the provisions of the constitution adopted Ijy the convention, July 19, 1820, and in anticipation of the admission of the state into the Union, an election was held on the fourth Monday in August of that year, for the purpose of electing a Governor and other state officers. Senators and Representatives to the General Assembly, Sheriffs and Coroners and United States Senators and Kepsentatives. The candidates for Governor were Alexander NcNair and William Clark, previously Governor of the Territory. Of a total vote of 9,132 votes, McNair received a majority of 4,020 over his opponent. The Senators and Representatives elected to the General Assembly met in St. Louis in September and elected Thomas H. Benton and David Barton to the United States Senate, but as the state was not formally admitted to the Union until August of the following year, they did not take their seats till December, 1821.

At this session the counties of Boone, Callaway, Chariton, Cole, Gasconade, Lillard, (afterwards Lafayette) Perry, Ralls, Ray and Saline were organized The seat of government was located at St. Charles, but in 1826 was removed to Jefferson City.

Early Settlements Ste. Genevieve

The first settlement of which we have any record in the state of Missouri, or rather what is now known as Missouri, was made about 1735 on the bank of the Mississippi river in the territory now known as Ste. Genevieve county and was so called for a French woman by the name Ste. Genevieve. The settlement was founded by Renault, the son of a celebrated iron founder of France, for the purpose of engaging in gold and silver mining. He transported with him two hvmdred miners, provided with the necessary tools and whatever else they needed to accomplish his object. During his passage he landed on the island of St. Domingo, where he purchased five hundred slaves, when he came up the river he established himself at Fort Chartres, about fifteen miles above where Ste. (ienevieve now stands. Failing; to find either o-old or silver he discovered lead ore in large (luaitities, and at once prepared rude furnaces for smelting it, transported it to Fort Chartres on pack horses, thence to France via New Orleans by boats. Notwithstanding Renault's old mines have long since overgrown with trees and covered with moss they have since been discovered by latter day prospectors.

St. Louis

In the year 1764 the second settlement was foimded where the City of St. Louis now stands. In the year 1672 M. D'Abadie, who was Director General and Civil and Military Commandant of Louisiana at that time, granted to a certain company' of traders the exclusive right to trade with the Indians of Missouri, and in fact with the entire northwest, for a term of eight years. This company was headed by M. Pierre Laclede Liguest, generally known as Laclede, a man of great foresight, experience and ability, who left New Orleans in the summer of 1763, and arrived in Missouri the following fall. It will no doubt be remembered by the reader that all the French settlements were on ths east side of the river except that of St3. Gsnevieve and as a consequence included in the territory belonging to England. At the little village on the west side of the jVlississippi river there was not a building with the capacity of holding one quarter of M. Laclede's merchandise. The connnandant at Fort Chartres, M. DeNeyon, upon hearing of Laclede's dilemma, ofi^ered him a place for his goods until the occiipatancy of the Fort by the English. Laclede readily took advantage of this generous offer and repaired at once to Fort Chartres where he deposited his efi'ects, and at once started out to look for a sight n^t far from the Missouri river suitable for his business. He rejected Ste. Genevieve, both on account of its distance from that river and its unhealthy situation. He was accompanied l)y his stepson, a lad of fourteen, named Augusta Chouteau, and explored the region thoroughly and was soon fixed upon the phice of his settlement. After returning to the fort he assured DeNeyon and his officers that he had discovered a location where he would form a settlement, which might in years to come become one of "America's greatest and finest cities." His sagacious mind thus readily appreciated the advantages of this location. Navigation was open, and early in February, 1764, Laclede sent thirty men under the charge of Chouteau to the location desig nated, with orders to have the land cleared and to build a large shed for shelter, provisions and tools, also to put up some log huts for the men. On St. Valentine's Day (Feb. 14, 1764) work was begun clearing away the trees and brush where the beautiful, and one of the largest cities in America now stands - St. Louis. Early in the month of April, Lacleile arrived upon the scene, chose a location for his own residence, and laid the plans for his village which he called St. Louis in honor of Louis XV", King of France, not knowing the territory had already been transferred to Spain, and then hastily returned to Fort Chartres to remove his goods, as the English garrison was expected at any day. When Capt. Sterling, 1765, in command of the English troops, a company of highlauders, actually took the fort, St. Ange, French Commandant at the time, removed with his men to St. Louis, then recognized as the capital of North Louisiana. M. Aubry was acting Governor at New Orleans, vice M. D'Abadie, who died. Receiving, probably, the sanction of the former gentleman, St. Ange, assumed the reins of the government at St. Louis at once, and he so liberally conducted the allairs that a stream of immigration set in from Lower Louisiana and Canada, and notwithstanding the many hardships to be overcome during those olden times, the city of St. Louis, has steadily increased in poi)ulation until to-day it has not a peer in the New World as a business center.

St. Charles And Other Settlements

In 1769, about five years after the founding of St. Louis, the first settlement made in North Missouri was made near where St. Charles is located in St. Charles county. The name given the settlement, and which it retained until 1781, was Les Petites Cotes, signifying Little Hills. The town site was located by Blanchette, a Frenchman, who built the first fort and established a military post at that point. Soon after the military post at St. Charles had been established, another old French village - Portage des Sioux - was located on the Mississippi just below the mouth of the Illinois river. The next settlement of any note was made on the Missouri river by a colony of Kentuckians, numbering about 0:13 htmdre;l a:i:l fifty, who settled in what was known as Cooper's B;)tt ):ii ia Franklin county, and as time went on new settlements were opened up along the Missouri river until at the present time that stream is lined with large and small towns all throuofh the state from St. L )us to Kmsis City, The latter was laid out in '30, but its growth o:iIy dates from 186), when it became noted as a western trading point of easy access.