Edinburg, Missouri

Thompson Kiver in the northeast is the principal one, but it runs but a short distance on her border. Hickory Creek waters the southwest and Coon Creek the northwestern portion of the township, while Wolf Creek comes in at the southeastern corner, and, with its branches, rises in the vicinity of Edinburg.

Passage source: The History of Grundy County, Missouri, published 1881.

In the settlement of Grundy county, both the east and west sides were settled closely together. Dr. Wm. P. Thompson was the first white settler in Grundy county, west of the Grand Kiver, and he settled in Madison township near Thompson's Kiver in 1834. John Scott came with him, also Harvej' Meeks. Milton V. Thompson, now living in Edinburg, and part of the time on some one of his farms in Taylor township, is the son of the late Dr. "Wm. P. Thompson, and was some seven years old when he came to this county with his father. At present Milton V. Thompson is the oldest living white settler in Grundy count}^ as well as Madison and Tajdor townships, both of which he calls his home. Dr. Wm. P. Thompson was the first judge of the Livingston coi;nty court, elected from what is now Grundy county. He was elected from Sugar Creek township, now Madison, and was presiding justice of Livingston County Court from February, 1839, until and including the February term of 1841, when a new court was elected in Livingston to take the place of those outside of the county. The doctor was the first justice of the peace for the township and the first doctor in the township and in the county, the only brigadier-general who ever called Grundy county his home, and probably had more square miles included within his practice as a physician than any doctor who ever lived in the State of Missouri. Then there was Burt Masters who supposed he was a resident of Grundy county and used to be occasionally around the Thompson settlement, a good farmer who, on the county line being run, found himself in Livingston countj' less than a half-mile from the line.

Passage source: The History of Grundy County, Missouri, published 1881.

The rush of 1835 was a fair one for Madison township. That year came George Peery, with his wife and three children, two of whom are living, Dr. Archibald Peery and Mrs. Louisa Moore, and Humphrey Best. Then came Evans Peei'y and his son Wm. N. Peei-y, Robert Peery, Thos. Carnes, Elder McCammon, Isaac J. Harvey, Wm. Metcalf, Philip Wild, George Bunch, John M. Graham and sons, Wm. Kenfro and K. F. Keith, all came in 1835-36-37, also, Thomas Hamilton and the Slingers on Hickory Creek, besides others whose names were not remembered. Not only the first settler on the soil of Grundy is placed to the credit of Madison township, but it has also the credit of the first white child born on its soil. Emory Wild, son of Philip and Sallie Wild was born one and one-half miles northeast of Edinburg, July 12, 1836. Daniel, Philip and Wm. Asbbrook settled in the southwest part of the township, while John Shaw, Lewis Phillips, Elisha Inman, Wm. C. Harvey, Absalom Harvey, James and Minor Wynn and James Applegate and sons, were all settlers on or before the year 1840, besides many others who arrived in the last named year. Beli Gentry's name was overlooked, he was a good farm worker and one who was noted for using vigorous English a little oftener and easier than any man in the township, with Wm. Cox, John, William and Matthew Gibson, the Longs, all came in 1839. Matthew Gibson was a justice of the peace. These were the men who started the work of making the wilderness a home of peace and plenty for future generations and well did they fulfill their self-imposed task.

Passage source: The History of Grundy County, Missouri, published 1881.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Madison Township - it names this place 37 more 37 times.