Kingsville, Missouri

The village of Kingsville was laid out in 1856 by Gen. Wm. King, whose name the village now honors. Gen. King built the first house, in 1853; Samuel Bolejack followed. Rufus King had built a dwelling, at that time, on the prairie, some distance away, in 1851. The village is located in four sections and four different congressional townships - sec¬ tions 6,13,1 and 36; townships, 45, 46; ranges 28,29. The Missouri Pacific Railroad passes through the northern part, in a northwest direc¬ tion. It is situated on a high, rolling prairie, forming the summit of the divide between the tributaries of Blackwater and Big Creek. The houses, which number about fifty, including some farm dwellings, jutting close to the village, are all frame buildings, and they are built upon the cheap plan for utility. The better residences are those of John R. French, R. King, Geo. Johnston, G. W. King and D, W. H. Carpenter. At pres¬ ent there are three stores, two blacksmith shops, one wagon shop, one carpenter shop, drug store, one grain elevator, shoe shop and a lumber yard.

Passage source: The History of Johnson County, Missouri : Including a Reliable History of the Townships, Cities, and Towns, Together with a Map of the County; a Condensed History of Missouri; the State Constitution; an Abstract of the Most Important Laws; the Physical Features of the County; the Early Settlers and Pioneers; the Political and War History; the Religious and Educational History...statistics and Miscellaneous Matters, Etc., Etc, published 1881.

Postojfice. - A postoffice was established here in 1856, and Samuel Bolejack was the first postmaster, till after the war broke out, in 1861. It is said that when the mail would arrive that the postmaster would pour the 34 ^ contents of the mail bags in the middle of the floor, and if any were present they could pick out their mail matter. His wife couldn't read, and when her husband was absent, and anyone called for mail, she would say, '-Look over this package, an' see ef you got anything." Perhaps not a dozen letters would arrive at the office a week, and only two or three families read newspapers. The postoffice, Kingsville, was named in honor of a distinguished family of Kings who settled here prior to the war. On account of the strict southern principles of this family the loy¬ alists determined in 1865 to wrestle the name from this little borough. The bitter feeling was at one time -so great that the name of the postoffice was changed from Kingsville to Ramey, and Gen. King burned in effigy. The name Ramey was in honor of a man by that name, who made many dashing and scouting expeditions in Missouri as a militia captain. Practi¬ cally the name was never adopted, and just as soon as democrats had influence in congress the name was changed back to Kingsville. The postoffice, for a time, was discontinued during the civil war, and when the office was resuscitated the Pacific railroad brought a daily mail about the 1st of July. 1865. The following postmasters have served since the war: W. Wilkcenson, A. J. Buchanan, W. Monroe and Geo. Moore. The last named is serving at present, and from him we get the following bit of information concerning the office: The office is open every day except Sundays. The following periodicals are received, published in the county: Journal- Democrat, fifty copies taken; Sedalia Evening Call, thirty copies taken; Holden Enterprise , fifty-four copies taken; Standard , twenty copies taken. Papers published out of the county: ' Chicago Inter- Ocean, twentv-three; Missouri Republican , fifty; Christian , twenty-five; Globe- Democrat , twenty; Western Raral , six; Cumberland Presbyterian, five; United Presbyterian, fifteen ; and about one hundred promiscuous papers. The average number of letters that arrive each day is about thirty, and the office pays about $20 per month.

Passage source: The History of Johnson County, Missouri : Including a Reliable History of the Townships, Cities, and Towns, Together with a Map of the County; a Condensed History of Missouri; the State Constitution; an Abstract of the Most Important Laws; the Physical Features of the County; the Early Settlers and Pioneers; the Political and War History; the Religious and Educational History...statistics and Miscellaneous Matters, Etc., Etc, published 1881.

At a meeting in Oct. 1874, delegates were chosen to meet in convention at Mound Prairie church, Lafayette county, for the purpose of organizing a new association, composed of the counties of Johnson aud Lafayette. The convention was held the 29th of October, and the new association was effected. Since that time the church has been abundantly blessed in prosperity and faithful membership, and although not owning any house of worship, they have never failed to meet regularly every month. At present, steps are being taken to build a handsome church edifice. The present pastor, Rev. J. L. Carmichael, has entered upon his work with earnestness and zeal, and will surely succeed in extending and building up the church in Kingsville.

Passage source: The History of Johnson County, Missouri : Including a Reliable History of the Townships, Cities, and Towns, Together with a Map of the County; a Condensed History of Missouri; the State Constitution; an Abstract of the Most Important Laws; the Physical Features of the County; the Early Settlers and Pioneers; the Political and War History; the Religious and Educational History...statistics and Miscellaneous Matters, Etc., Etc, 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 Kingsville Township - it names this place 17 more 17 times.