Lincoln School

Twenty-three miles east of Mexico, and 27 miles west of Louisiana and the Mississippi river, on the Chicago and Alton Railway, is Vandalia, a town of 800 souls, and the most important trading and ship¬ ping point between the cities named. It is 30 miles distant from

Passage source: History of Audrain County, Missouri : Written and Compiled from the Most Authentic Official and Private Sources, Including a History of Its Townships, Towns and Villages; Together with ... Biographical Sketches of Prominent Citizens .., published 1884.

Hannibal, on the north, the same distance from Montgomery City on the south, and has in all directions a splendid farming country, rich in grasses, grain fields, herds and farm improvements; and abundantly capable of giving impulse to a city of 4,000 people. The town was laid out in 1870 by Aaron McPike, Judge Caldwell, Amos Ladd and Col. Haden, is substantially and tastefully built and besides a fortu¬ nate location, has two newspapers, three pretty churches, a substan¬ tial and attractive school building, a steam flouring mill and two steam grain elevators, an encampment and lodge of Odd Fellows, a Masonic lodge, and flourishing organizations of the A. O. U. W. and Good Templars. Vandalia is a strong commercial town, the trade in general merchandise, lumber, hardware and farming machinery being very heavy for a town of this class. From 300,000 to 400,000 bushels of grain are annually shipped by the Alton road from this point, the yearly export of live stock closely approximating 275 car loads, and it is probably within the bounds to estimate the total yearly trade of the city, in all lines, at $600,000. Vandalia enjoys a high measure of prosperity in all departments. The municipality is out of debt, with a surplus in the treasury. The merchants are generally substantial men of prime ability and credit, carry large stocks, discount their bills of credit and do business by the best modern methods. The trade of the town is annually increasing by about 25 per cent, and everything about the city indicates solid and permanent thrift.

Passage source: History of Audrain County, Missouri : Written and Compiled from the Most Authentic Official and Private Sources, Including a History of Its Townships, Towns and Villages; Together with ... Biographical Sketches of Prominent Citizens .., published 1884.

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Read the whole chapter on Cuivre Township - 2,779 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.