2021 State Bicentennial

MISSOURI BICENTENNIAL SECTION

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BIRTHDAY MISSOURI! AUGUST 10, 2021

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MISSOURI BICENTENNIAL SECTION

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Author Laura Ingalls Wilder, famous for “Little House on the Prairie,” was born in Wisconsin, but she was living in Mansfield when she began her writing career in 1932. All her books were written at Rocky Ridge Farm in Mansfield, where she lived until her death.

Each year more than 30,000 visitors come to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum.

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ABOUT MISSOURI

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John Adam Lemp – a grocer – started Western Brewing in St. Louis in 1840 and started making Falstaff.

It was the largest brewery in the city in 1870 and remained so until Prohibition. The Lemp Brewery Company closed in 1921. The Lemp family home still stands in St. Louis and is acknowledged as one of the most haunted mansions in the country.

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Someone suggested that the capital city, which was moved from St. Charles in 1821 to a more central location, be named Missouriopolis. Less creative minds prevailed and named it for Thomas Jefferson.

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Located in the Great Plains tornado belt, Missouri has endured many historic tornadoes including five EF5 tornadoes. The worst tornado in U.S. history, the March 18, 1925 Tri-State Tornado began near Ellington and ended its 219-mile path in Indiana, killing nearly 700 people along the way. The tornado leveled Annapolis and traveled near Cherokee Pass and into Bollinger and Perry Counties.

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Louisiana Purchase Exposition or St. Louis World’s Fair on April 30, 1904 was easily the most anticipated day ever in St. Louis. The seven-month run was a smashing success with at least 12 million visitors paying to get in, and 20 million is the often-cited total attendance. There’s still controversy over whether that is where the first ice cream cone was invented.

Photo Courtesy of Missouri History Museum

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Kansas City and St. Louis are the 2nd and 3rd largest freight rail hubs in the U.S. Trucks, planes, barges and trains in Missouri move 1 billion tons each year valued at more than $1 trillion. There are 17 river ports including St. Louis – the 3rd largest U.S. inland port.

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Springfield is known as the Birthplace of Route 66. One of the first stops to make in Springfield for any Route 66 fan is the Route 66 Springfield Visitor Center. There are 313 miles of Route 66 in Missouri (the fifth longest stretch).

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Remember Iben Browning’s prediction for a massive earthquake along the New Madrid fault Dec. 3, 1990 (give or take 48 hours) that closed many schools for the day. It earned him the National Anxiety Center’s first Chicken Little Award.

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Saint Louis University, chartered in 1832, is the oldest University west of the Mississippi River.

It started in a private residence as Saint Louis Academy.

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The Lake of the Ozarks has more miles of shoreline (1,150) than the coast of California. The lake was the largest manmade lake in the United States, when it was completed in 1931 by the Union Electric Co.

Located in the St. Francois Mountains, the highest point in Missouri, at 1,772 feet, is Taum Sauk Mountain State Park. It includes Mina Sauk Falls (flows in wet weather only), the tallest waterfall in Missouri.

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In the state flag, having the coat-ofarms in the center of the national colors represents Missouri, as she is—the geographical center of the nation. By mingling the state coat-of-arms with the national colors of red, white, and blue, the flag signified the harmony existing between the two. Twenty-four stars surrounded the coat-of-arms, representative of Missouri’s position as the 24th state admitted to the Union.

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On February 5, 1911, lightning struck the dome of the Missouri State Capitol, igniting a blaze which destroyed the building. As a result, the State Capitol Commission Board was established to coordinate and supervise the construction of a new capitol, the third capitol located in Jefferson City and the sixth in the state.

The new Capitol was constructed between 1913 and 1917 at a cost of roughly $4.21 million.

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In 1995, Gov. Mel Carnahan signed a bill designating the Missouri mule as the official state animal. The mule is a hybrid, the offspring of a mare (female horse) and a jack (male donkey). After its introduction to the state in the 1820s, the mule quickly became popular with farmers and settlers because of its hardy nature. Missouri mules pulled pioneer wagons to the Wild West during the 19th century and played a crucial role in moving troops and supplies in World Wars I and II. For decades, the Show Me State was the nation’s premier mule producer.

The ice cream cone became the state of Missouri’s official dessert on August 28, 2008. The 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis is the reported birthplace of the treat and has become a staple at many community events across the state, such as the State Fair. The University of MissouriColumbia has played a large role in the development of ice cream products for over a century. Missouri presently ranks 10th in ice cream production.

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Branson has more than 9 million visitors each year but only 10,000 residents. It was featured on Travel Channel’s “Most Christmassy Places in America.” It has more theater seats than Broadway.

The Cardinals were founded in 1882 as an American Association Team called the St. Louis Brown Stockings. In 1883, the team changed its name to the St. Louis Browns. In 1892, the team moved to the National League. In 1899, the name was changed to the Perfectos, and in 1900, the team became the St. Louis Cardinals.

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Famous Missourian Samuel Clemens had tried out other pseudonyms, including W. Epaminondas Adrastus Blab and Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass before going by Mark Twain and writing “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”

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19 20 The St. Louis Gateway Arch is as wide as it is tall. That’s right! The Arch is 630 feet wide and 630 feet tall. You’d definitely break a sweat if you were to ascend to the top of the Arch by foot: There are 1,076 steps.

The 1904 Olympic Games were held in St. Louis over the course of four months, introducing boxing, freestyle wrestling, decathlon and a dumbbell. Thomas Hicks of the U.S. won the marathon after the disqualification New Yorker Fred Lorz, who completed 11 miles by car, getting out just before the finish.

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The present Missouri Capitol building was completed in 1917 and occupied the following year. It is the third capitol building constructed in Jefferson City and the sixth in Missouri history.

Photo Credit: Kevin R. Jenkins

A brief history of the state of Missouri Kevin R. Jenkins kjenkins@farmingtonpressonline.com

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ormer St. Louis KTVI-Fox 2 TV news anchor John Brown recently spoke to the Farmington Regional Chamber of Commerce about Missouri’s history in recognition of the state’s bicentennial — a significant milestone being celebrated across the state this year.

Prior to Brown and his family’s moving back to Orlando, Florida in July, the newscaster, author, and speaker made frequent visits to the Parkland because his wife, Teresa (nee: Meyer), is a Farmington native.

He was invited to speak to the chamber after several stories about his books on the state’s history appeared in the Daily Journal and Farmington Press.

Much of the content of Brown’s presentation came from his 194-page book, “Missouri: An Illustrated Timeline,” that was published last year in anticipation of the momentous event.

“Missouri’s history runs through my blood,” Brown said. “The best way to explain it is that I lived in 20 different places — all in Missouri — before graduating college. I graduated from high school over around Belle, Missouri, but I lived all over the state growing up as my family bounced around.”

Brown explained that the name Missouri is a

MISSOURI ENTERED THE UNION ON AUG. 10, 1821, AS THE 24TH STATE. Sioux Indian word translated as big canoe people.

That word came from the Missouri tribe, which inhabited much of what is now northwest Missouri.

“The Missouri was one of seven primary tribes that existed in the state — along with the Illini, Ioway, Oto, Osage, Quapaw and Chickasaw. Most of the Native Americans who lived in the Missouri

territory were driven from the state during the Indian removal period in the 1800s, that culminated in the Trail of Tears that cut directly across the state as the Cherokee Indians and fellow tribes were pushed westward.”

Brown explained that French explorers reached Missouri in the late 1600s and adopted the name Missouri in 1673 when explorers Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet made early maps of the territory.

“The land was claimed for France by explorer Robert de La Salle in 1682,” he said. “It was around 1735 when the first permanent settlement in Missouri was established at Ste. Genevieve along the Mississippi River. A fur trading post was established further upstream when Pierre Laclede founded St. Louis in 1764. Five years later, St. Charles was established upstream along the Mississippi River as a trading post

by Louis Blanchette.”

According to Brown, the Missouri territory traded hands between France and Spain but was back in French possession in early 1803 when France sold the land to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase.

“The territory was truly the Gateway to the West because once settlers arrived in Missouri and jumped onto the Santa Fe or Oregon Trails, there was very little civilization to be found and practically nowhere to get supplies for the rest of the trip to the West Cost,” he said.

Brown noted that Missouri was the first area mapped by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark when they set out to explore the uncharted territories that the United States had acquired with the Louisiana Purchase.

“They began their trek on May 14, 1804, in Wood River, Illinois, and traveled up the Missouri River looking for a northwest passage to the Pacific Ocean,” he said. “Even though they never found the passage, their journals and maps transformed our understanding of the American West when they returned to St. Louis in 1806 to describe what they had found on their journey.”

Missouri remained a part of the Louisiana Territory until June 4, 1812, when the Missouri Territory was established by Congress.

“The next nine years were vitally important as the future of the state came into focus with the lead up to statehood and the

drafting of the Missouri Compromise,” Brown said. “While Missouri wanted to join the Union as a slave state, that would have disrupted the balance of power by giving southern states more representation than their northern counterparts in Washington, D.C. “Northern legislators immediately came up with a proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit slavery in territories that were part of the Louisiana Purchase.

That’s when statesman Henry Clay used his persuasive powers and came up with the Missouri Compromise, which seemed to satisfy all parties.”

The main tenet of the Missouri Compromise was to keep the balance of power by admitting Maine as a free state while allowing Missouri to enter as a slave state. Clay’s plan satisfied the leaders of the 22 existing states and paved the way for Missouri to become a state. However, much like the rest of the nation, the allegiances in Missouri were mixed with many Missourians strongly against slavery, while others were of the Confederate mindset.

“The early conflict over slavery and states’ rights defined Missouri’s early years and set the stage for a period in United States history that nearly ended the country as we knew it,” Brown said.

Brown noted that the federal government wanted the western states to have straight-lined boundaries on all four sides. In light of that, he described the Bootheel Provision as “one of the more interesting geographic features of Missouri.”

Brown said, “The bulk of the Missouri and Arkansas border lies along a straight line at latitude 36 degrees, 30 minutes north, which is what was first envisioned by Congress when the state of Missouri was being established and was also part of the Missouri Compromise. But in the far southeastern part of the state, a 627,000-acre plot of land was carved out of Arkansas and added to Missouri without an official governmental explanation as to why it was changed.

“One thing that is known for sure is that it took the work of legislators, along with an influential landholder known as the Czar of the Valley, to make the Bootheel a part of Missouri. John Hardeman Walker owned significant portions of land in the areas around present-day Caruthersville, where he raised cattle. When the initial southern boundary of Missouri was established

by Congress in 1818, three years before statehood, it put his land and the land of his neighbors in Arkansas, not in Missouri where they wanted it to be. So, Walker petitioned lawmakers to include this as part of the new state of Arkansas, not within the boundaries of the Arkansas Territory when the districts were redrawn in 1820.”

Missouri entered the Union on Aug. 10, 1821, as the 24th state. The application for statehood

was made by the Missouri Territory in 1817, but it took several more years for lawmakers to agree on what legal terms its addition to the United States would occur.

“After contentious debates, supporters secured the support of legislators, and on March 3, 1820, the House voted to approve the Missouri Compromise, which also made all western territories north of Missouri’s southern boarder free soil as well,” Brown said. “Missouri didn’t become a state until 1821, but the first class of lawmakers and a constitution were already in place a year prior to statehood.

“The first constitutional convention took place in downtown St. Louis at the Mansion House Hotel, where it took only 38 days for state leaders to come up with a framework for the state. The constitution was adopted on July 19, 1820, and the first elections in Missouri took place shortly thereafter, with Alexander McNair elected as the state’s first governor.”

The Missouri Compromise held up for more than 30 years until it was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 — another key moment in the lead up to the Civil War. A few years later, the Civil War was triggered when other slave states decided to secede from the Union. Missouri chose to remain.

The state’s seat of power was based in St. Louis, as it served as the center of commerce and population for the territory. Early lawmakers and territorial leaders decided that the new capital of the 24th state should be located in the center of the state.

“A piece of land along the bluffs of the Missouri River in mid-Missouri was chosen and the town was named City of Jefferson, in honor of President Thomas Jefferson,” Brown said. “It was eventually renamed Jefferson City.

Until a new capitol could be built in mid-Missouri, St. Charles — based on its proximity to St. Louis — was chosen as the capitol’s temporary location. The bill making Jefferson City the official capitol of Missouri was signed Dec. 31, 1821.”

Not long after the state of Missouri was established, state leaders devised a plan to design a symbol that would encompass

everything special about the state.

“In January 1822, Judge Robert William Well’s design for the Great Seal of the State of Missouri was heartily adopted by the general assembly,” Brown said. “In the center of the seal is the United States coat of arms with a bald eagle on one side and a crescent moon above a grizzly bear on the other.

Surrounding the inner circle are the words, ‘United We Stand, Divided We Fall.’

Outside the circle, two bears symbolize the state’s strength and the bravery of its people. Below is a scroll of the official state motto, ‘Salus Populi Suprema Lex Esto,” which means ‘let the welfare of the people be the supreme law.’

“A helmet representing state sovereignty sits atop the inner circle, which is just below a star surrounded by 23 smaller stars representing the existing states. The large star symbolizes Missouri as the 24th state. One other interesting fact about the seal is the Roman numeral MDCCCXX, or 1820, near the bottom. In 1820, Missouri began operations as a state, although statehood was not established until the following year.”

Former St. Louis KTVI, Fox 2 TV news anchor John Brown speaks to the Farmington Regional Chamber of Commerce about Missouri’s history. Photo Credit: Kevin R. Jenkins

The first Missouri constitution was written in 1820 and was adopted on July 19, 1820. Under the Missouri Compromise, Missouri was initially admitted to the Union as a slave state. Because the constitution specifically excluded “free negroes and mulattoes” from the state, it resulted in the U.S. Congress delaying the admission of Missouri to the Union. This constitution took effect the day Missouri joined the union as the 24th state on Aug. 10, 1821. Photo Credit: State of Missouri

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State and local officials stand with some of the many people who devoted years to the establishment of Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park.

The Jean-Baptiste Valle House serves as the headquarters for the new Ste. Genevieve National Historic Park that was formally established.

Ste. Gen played an important role in Missouri’s birth Nikki Overfelt-Chifalu noverfelt@dailyjournalonline.com

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Felix Valle House State Historic Site is located at the corner of Second and Merchant streets in Ste. Genevieve.

t’s impossible to talk about Missouri history without talking about Ste. Genevieve -- the state’s oldest permanent European settlement.

By the time Missouri became a state in 1821, Ste. Genevieve was well established. The settlement had 50 years under its belt even before the Louisiana Purchase.

Because Ste. Genevieve was one of the largest towns -- along with St. Louis -- in the Missouri territory, it figured prominently in politics around the time of petitioning for statehood, according to local historian Bob Mueller.

“When Missouri wrote its first constitution, people from Ste. Genevieve participated in that,” he said.

Until 1812 when it became the Missouri territory, Ste. Genevieve was part of the Louisiana territory.

“In 1808, Ste. Genevieve was the first town incorporated by the legislature,” Mueller said. “I think New Madrid was next and St. Louis was in 1809.”

Once they became the Missouri territory, they were able to send delegates to Washington D.C. One such delegate was John Scott, a lawyer from Ste. Genevieve, who was elected about 1815. He was from Virginia, educated at

Reenactors in colonial period clothing greet families at the annual Jour De Fete arts and crafts festival in Ste. Genevieve.

John Scott served as territory delegate from 1817 to 1821 and then served as Missouri’s first representative until 1827.

Princeton, and came to Ste. Genevieve about 1806.

After his first election, he was sent home from Washington after Congress declared the election fraudulent.

“He was eventually elected again, I think around 1816, as our territorial representative,” he said.

“So he was there during the petitions for statehood.”

Scott served as territory delegate from 1817 to 1821 and then served as Missouri’s first representative until 1827.

His contributions have been recognized with a plaque located in a new Ste. Genevieve County Bicentennial Plaza on Market Street in Ste. Genevieve.

But this is only a small part of Ste. Genevieve’s history.

“Our history is probably longer than most in Missouri,” Mueller said.

The area’s civil records go back to 1757, he said, and the church records back to 1759.

“When people talk about Missouri history, they seem to start talking about it with the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark, with the Americans,” he said. “The Americans won the American Revolution.

And with the Louisiana Purchase, they kind of wrote the history. So the French were kind of minimized in our history.”

In the late 1740s, French Canadians from Kaskaskia and Fort de Chartres moved across the Mississippi River to settle in the river plain area of what is now Ste. Genevieve to farm.

“We have a big area on the river plain called the big field or le grand champ,” he said. “It’s about 7,000 acres and it’s been continuously formed since 1740s.”

Mueller said they also came to mine lead, make salt, and trap and trade furs.

When the French lost the French and Indian War to the British in 1763, the area on the east side of the river became British.

“A lot of the French that live there, moved over to the Missouri side,” he added. “So that’s when our population started to expand.”

After a flood in 1785, the town relocated to its present location, which is on higher ground and about three miles northwest of the original location.

From 1763 to 1800, the area was under the Spanish control. But the Spanish didn’t even send an official to the area until 1769, Mueller said.

In 1800, when he estimates the population at 1,000 and 30% African, it went back to the French before becoming Amer-

The community is proud to be Missouri’s first establishment.

ican with the Louisiana Purchase in 1804.

“Under the Spanish, there were five districts and we were called upper Louisiana at the time,” he explained. “It went from the south: New Madrid, Cape Girardeau, Ste. Genevieve district, St. Louis, and St. Charles. After the Americans came in, they retained those five districts.

The Ste. Genevieve district went from the Meramac River on the north to Apple Creek on the south and it went all the way to the western border of the Louisiana Purchase.”

But Ste. Genevieve retained its French flavor well past 1800, according to Mueller.

“We were French, even when the Spanish were here,” he said. “We retained a lot of the French customs and even some of the French laws stayed in effect.”

The area was predominately Catholic, which is the religion of France and Spain. When the Germans started moving in during the 1830s, they came from southern Germany and were also Catholic.

“So Catholic religion was has been very prominent in Ste. Genevieve for many, many years,” he continued.

“It started to decline in the 1960s about, but it shaped a lot of the town and the customs and the celebrations and things like that.”

They were still building French-style houses into the 1840s, Mueller said, which is one of the main things Ste. Genevieve is known for. They are vertical log houses; one style has the post buried in the ground and the other is built on a limestone sill foundation.

“Ste. Genevieve has the greatest concentration of those in the United States,” he explained. “In fact, that one style, where they bury the post in the ground, there’s only five of those left in the United States and three of those are in Ste. Genevieve.”

Preserving this French influence in Missouri’s history is one reason Mueller and others started seeking National Park status for the remaining historic houses.

Its location next to the Mississippi River was important in its establishment.

The Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park was officially established on October 30, 2020.

“We started working on trying to get this as a national park before 2000,” he explained. “It was really to kind of recognize the French influence in the mid-Mississippi Valley, and particularly in St. Genevieve, and to recognize this very unique architecture that we had (and) the unique culture, the confluence of cultures.

“It was French dominated, but it also included African American and Native American and Americans, English Americans and Germans. We wanted to have that brought to more of a national prominence.”

He said some people are unaware of this history.

“They go, ‘oh, the French were here or the Spanish were here?’” he continued. “’We didn’t know that. And why do these houses have vertical logs? That’s not how we were taught log capitals were built. They were all horizontal logs.’”

The other reason is to help with the maintenance of the houses.

“The National Park Service can bring resources, that we don’t have locally, to the table to really protect these extremely rare architectural treasures,” he said.

“Two of the five vertical logs are in the park boundaries and the other one was just a half a block away.”

The community of Ste. Genevieve also preserves the French culture through its many events throughout the year, such as the Kings Ball and Jour de Fete.

Another is La Guignolèe, a New Year’s Eve tradition.

“People dressed in costume and they used to go from house to house collecting food for the Kings Ball or for the poor,” Mueller said. “They sing this song in French, and it’s kind of a perpetuation of a really old French custom that came to us from France to Canada to here.”

The biggest of all the celebrations, Jour de Fete will be on Aug. 14-15 this year.

CELEBRATING THE BICENTENNIAL The Ste. Genevieve Historic District will be celebrating the Missouri Bicentennial with an ice cream social on Aug. 10, from 5-7 p.m.

According to information for the event: Sara’s Ice Cream will be serving up cones and sundaes. Luna’s will have a birthday special.

Harold’s Bees will delight your taste buds with honey-sweetened ice cream.

Kona will be selling snocones and Pat’s Pastries will be “cooking” up something special. For the adults, Audubon’s and Brix both will serve refreshing slushies. If a spot of tea is to your liking, drop in Quintessential Spice and Tea. Almost every shop in the historic downtown area plans to be open as well.

The Ste. Genevieve Art Guild displayed paintings and sculptures of the Moses Riney Family created by local artists in celebration of Black History Month.

Mickey Koetting (seated) speaks to visitors about the history of the Ste. Genevieve Memorial Cemetery at the Deja Vu Spirit Reunion.

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In 1900, Judge William R. Taylor owned the first automobile in St. Francois County.

This photo - found in “Farmington, Missouri - The First 200 Years 1798-1998” shows a toll gate on the last run on the plank road, which ran from Iron Mountain to Ste. Genevieve with a stretch going through downtown Farmington.

Pictured in 1902, is the St. Francois County Railroad.

St. Francois County to mark 200 years on December 19 Mark Marberry mmarberry@dailyjournalonline. com

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Sam Hildebrand was the legendary St. Francois County outlaw who allegedly killed more than 100 men during the Civil War.

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his year St. Francois County will also be celebrating its Bicentennial.

Two hundred years ago, on Dec. 19, 1821, the new state of Missouri birthed a new county name St. Francois.

Full of a rich and diverse history, St. Francois County was created out of parts of the existing counties of Ste. Genevieve, Jefferson and Washington.

The new county seat of government was centered around Murphy’s Settlement, now Farmington.

The first known European settlement was started much earlier in 1796 at Big River Mills.

From its beginnings, the first census of St. Francois County in 1830 showed a population of 2,366 that has grown to a 2010 census population of 65,359. Crossed by the northernmost route of the Trail of Tears and the Ste. Genevieve, Iron Mountain, and Pilot Knob Plank Road, St. Francois County has approximately 400 miles of county roads to service its residents.

Situated in the “Leadbelt”, St. Francois County is part of what is known as the “World’s Largest Lead Mining District.” Wellknown names in mining, Firmin Desloge, Moses Austin, Harry Cantwell and others ran many prospects that supported generations of families in the area.

During the Civil War, Sam Hildebrand was a notorious outlaw or hero, depending on whether you were “North or South.”

World War II brought us the heroics of Park Hills native Sgt. Darrell S. Cole, a Marine posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Raised in Bismarck, Air Force General Glen D. VanHerck is the commander of NORAD, in charge of aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning in the defense of North America.

The act by the Missouri

Marine Sgt. Darrell S. Cole of Esther was killed in action at the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. Cole was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the United States’ highest military honor, for “conspicuous gallantry” for his actions during that battle, as well as the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts.

State Legislature forming St. Francois County is as follows: “AN ACT erecting a part of the counties of St. Genevieve, Jefferson and Washington, into a separate county, by the name of St. Francois.

1. All that part of the county of Ste. Genevieve, all that part of the county of Jefferson, and all that part of the county of Washington, bounded as follows, to wit: beginning at the south-west corner of section one, range eight, township thirty-four, in said county of Ste. Genevieve, thence northwestwardly to the north-west corner of section thirty-six, range five, township thirty-seven, thence on a direct line to the southeast corner of section twenty-three, in range six, township thirty-eight; thence on a direct line to the south-east corner of township thirty-nine, range five; thence on a direct line to the south-west corner of section fifteen, in range four, township thirty eight; thence on a

direct line to the southwest corner of section thirty four, in range four, and township thirty-six; thence with the township line between townships thirty-five and thirty-six, to the south-west corner of township thirty-six, range four; thence due south nine miles; thence due east with the Madison line to the south-west corner of section fifteen, in range eight, township thirty-four; thence on a direct line to the beginning, is hereby laid off and erected into a separate county, which shall be called and known by the name of St. Francois county.

2. Henry Poston, John Andrews, William Alexander and James Halbert, be, and are hereby appointed commissioners, with the full power and authority to fix upon the most suitable place in said county whereon to erect a court house and jail; and the place whereon they, or a majority of them, shall agree, shall be the permanent seat of justice for the said county of Saint Francois.

3. The powers and duties of the said commissioners within the county of Saint Francois shall be the same as the powers and duties assigned to the commissioners appointed by “an act defining the limits of Howard county, and laying off new counties within the limits of said county as heretofore defined,” approved November sixteenth, eighteen hundred and twenty, to point out and fix upon the most suitable place in the county of Ray, whereon to erect a court house and jail for the said county of Ray.

4. The said commissioners, or a majority of them, be, and are hereby empowered to receive as a donation, or to purchase the lands by them selected, and lay off the same into lots or squares, and to expose them to public sale, under the same restrictions as are imposed by the before recited act on the commissioners of Ray county, and the powers and duties of the judge of the circuit court shall be the same in the said county of St. Francois as in the said county of Ray. 5. The courts to be holden in the county of St. Francois, shall be holden at the house of Jesse Murphy, until said commissioners shall choose and fix on a temporary seat of justice in said county; and after the said commissioners have selected a temporary seat of justice in said county, the courts to be holden for said county shall be holden at the temporary seat of justice, until a house for holding courts, and a jail, be provided at the permanent seat of justice for the said county of St. Francois.

6. All executions to be issued after the taking effect of this act from the circuit or county courts of the county of Ste. Genevieve, Washington, and Jefferson, shall be directed to the proper officer of the county of St. Francois, if the person against whom they may issue reside, within the said county of St. Francois, and

such execution shall be executed and returned by him in the same manner as if issued by the clerk of the county of Saint Francois; all accounts of executors, administrators, and guardians, now pending in the counties of Ste. Genevieve, Washington, and Jefferson, with the proceedings had thereon, to the clerk of the said county of Saint Francois, and shall stand ready for trial or settlement as if they had commenced therein; and all justices of the peace and constables now residing within the limits of said county of Saint Francois, shall continue to execute all the duties of their offices as justices and constables in the county of Saint Francois.

This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the passage thereof.

Approved, December 19, 1821.”

To celebrate the Missouri Bicentennial, the General Federation of Women’s Club will be hosting an Ice Cream Social at Long Park in Farmington, Aug. 10 from 5-7 p.m. There are also planned tours of Long House.

Some of the information in this article is from the book, “Our Lead Belt Heritage” by Henry C. Thompson. The legislation for the formation of the county was provided by Historian Bob Mueller. Photos were provided by Travis Trokey, Farmington Library.

St. Francois County is well known for its lead mining history.

Bismarck’s native Air Force General Glen VanHerck, is the commander of NORAD and Northcom.

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Farmington Desloge Potosi Belgrade Caledonia belgradestatebank.com

99 YEARS

93 YEARS

90 YEARS

131 South Main Fredericktown, MO 63645

573-783-3366 Fax: 573-783-6890

Daily Journal Farmington, MO 63640

573-756-8927 farmingtonpressonline.com

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www.MineralArea.edu

87 YEARS Exceeding Customers’ Expectations for 87 years!

84 YEARS

1513 St. Joe Drive, Park Hills, MO 63601

573-431-2010 dailyjournalonline.com

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80 YEARS Building Business. Building Community.

CHECKING | SAVINGS | MORTGAGE | CD’S | AUTO LOANS | INVESTMENTS

Relationship-Driven Service Since 1934

Farmington Regional Chamber

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The Hometown Bank

www.newerabank.com Fredericktown | Farmington Bonne Terre | Park Hills

67 YEARS

Proudly serving our Community since 1937!

SALES SERVICE PARTS

60+ YEARS

60 YEARS

510 POTOSI ST.

FARMINGTON, MO

573-756-5762

Don’t Forget Sauces, Spices, and Rubs

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57 YEARS

52 YEARS

“The Helpful Place” SHINE ON mobap.edu

Plummer’s

Hardware

Store Hours: Monday-Friday 7 am - 6 pm Saturday 8 am - 5 pm • Sunday 10 am - 3 pm

101 E. Liberty St, Farmington Follow us on Facebook

30 YEARS

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37 YEARS

DALTON

HOME IMPROVEMENTS LLC • Vinyl, Aluminum or Steel Siding • Soffits, Facia and Trimwork • Replacement Windows • Storm Windows & Doors • Shutters • Guttering and Insulation • Roofs

FREE ESTIMATES!

573-431-2373 or 636-464-8060

28 YEARS

Hank Kinsey - Owner

Over 35 Years in Business!

25 YEARS

We accept all major credit cards

FRESH SERVICE MEAT & DELI COUNTER Meeting Health Needs of The Farmington Area for 30 years

Custom Made Sausages with US Choice Meats Homemade Sauces • Spices Marinades • Rubs

OPEN T-F 8AM - 5:30PM Sat 8AM - 3PM 110 W. First St. • Farmington, MO

(573) 756-2204 24 YEARS

17 YEARS

COPLIN FAMILY FUNERAL HOME

• • • •

Family Owned & Operated Serving the Area Since 2004

COPLIN FAMILY FUNERAL HOME

COPLIN FUNERAL HOME

449 S Cedar St, Bismarck MO (573) 734-2424

910 Taylor Ave, Park Hills MO (573) 431-4273

koppeisheatingandcooling.com

11 YEARS

Open before & after work or school Saturday appointments available We accept all dental insurance Full dental services for all ages and needs

0% APR.*

PAYMENTS AS LOW AS $89 MONTH ON SELECT ATVS Customizing Available!

WHEELS & TIRES, LIFT KITS, CLUTCH KITS, TUNES, & CABS *See salesperson for availability. * On select models. **O% APR Financing on select models. All offers and incentives subject to change. Photos for illustration only.

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573-712-2201 Hours: Monday - Friday 9 - 6, Saturday 9 - 5, Closed Sunday

16 YEARS

Tobacco, Beer, Liquor & Wine !!

Check Cashing Fax/Copy Service

Your specialist for indoor air quality, heating, ventilation and air conditioning

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6 YEARS

Crystal & Rich’s Produce Open 7 Days a Week

525 Potosi St. Farmington MO

Compassionate care from experienced, board-certified dermatologists.

573-218-9200 CandRproduce@gmail.com Dr. Adams • Dr. Messer • Dr. Leong 00 1

731 W. Main St 573.783.4100 • FTFdental.com

Farmington, MO

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1223 Maple Street, Farmington, MO 63640

CALL: (573) 760-8811

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Missouri Timeline INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE MISSOURI SECRETARY OF STATE’S OFFICE

1821 President James Monroe admitted Missouri as the 24th state; the state capitol was located in St. Charles until a permanent location was designated (Aug. 10) 1821 The Santa Fe Trail was opened by William Becknell’s successful trading expeditions to Santa Fe (Sept. 1) 1821 Governor Alexander McNair signed the bill designating the site for the City of Jefferson (Dec. 31) 1822 A bill to create the Missouri State Seal was adopted (Jan. 11) 1825 William Beaumont began research observing the human digestive system (Aug. 1) 1826 Jefferson City was designated Missouri’s permanent seat of government; all state records, equipment, and the Great Seal were moved to Jefferson City on October 1st 1829 Missouri State Library established by law (Jan. 22) 1835 Writer Samuel L. Clemens

(Mark Twain) was born in Florida, Missouri (Nov. 30)

1836 Missouri State Penitentiary received its first prisoner (Mar. 8) 1837 President Martin Van Buren issued a proclamation which completed the annexation of the Platte Purchase area to Missouri, establishing the northwestern border of the state (Mar. 28) 1837 Missouri’s first capitol in Jefferson City was destroyed by fire (Nov. 15)

1843 Susan Elizabeth Blow, 1838 Governor Lilburn Boggs issued the “Extermination Order” against Mormons living in Missouri, demanding that members of the Mormon church leave the state (Oct. 27)

founder of the public kindergarten movement, was born in St. Louis (June 7)

1847 Boatmen’s Bank, the oldest bank west of the Mississippi River, was established (Oct. 18)

1839 The Geyer Act, the

foundation of Missouri’s public school system, was approved (Feb. 9)

1841 The University of Missouri,

the first state university west of the Mississippi River, opened (Apr. 14)

1843 Joseph Robidoux filed a

plat of a town which he called St. Joseph (Jul. 26)

1847 Legislation was enacted to establish a hospital for care and treatment of the insane; State Hospital No. 1 was established in Fulton and began receiving patients in 1851

1847 St. Louis was connected to the East Coast by telegraph (Dec. 20)

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1849 With the discovery of gold

in California, the Missouri towns of St. Louis, Independence, Westport, and St. Joseph became points of departure for emigrants bound for California, making Missouri the “Gateway to the West”

1849 The second, and most

serious, cholera epidemic struck St. Louis; over 4000 people died

1850 The town of Kansas (later

Kansas City) was incorporated (Feb. 4)

1850 Poet Eugene Field was born in St. Louis (Sept. 3)

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1861 President Abraham Lincoln revoked John Fremont’s emancipation proclamation for Missouri (Sept. 11)

1861 Missouri’s “Rebel Legislature” adopted an Act of Secession (Oct. 28) 1862 In a three-day battle at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, the Union Army forced the Confederates, excluding the state guard from Missouri, to retreat; this battle effectively ended the threat of Confederate military control in Missouri (Mar. 6-8)

1863 William Clarke Quantrill and his band of pro-Southern guerillas raided the pro-Union town of Lawrence, Kansas, killing nearly 150 men and boys. This attack served to avenge the imprisonment of their wives, mothers, and sisters in Kansas City (Aug. 21) 1863 Brigadier General Thomas Ewing issued General Order No. 11, requiring all people living in Jackson, Cass, Bates, and northern Vernon counties to vacate the area unless their loyalty to the Union could be proven (Aug. 25) 1864 George Washington Carver born near Diamond, Missouri

1851 Groundbreaking

ceremonies for the construction of the Pacific Railroad were held in St. Louis; the line was to go from St. Louis to Jefferson City and then to some point on the western boundary (Jul. 4)

1854 President Franklin Pierce

signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, allowing the notion of “popular sovereignty” in determining if a territory would be a slave state or a free state. This act set the stage for the violent KansasMissouri border wars where the Missouri “Border Ruffians” and the Kansas “Jayhawkers” transformed a frontier quarrel over slavery’s borders into a national issue (May 30)

1857 The Dred Scott decision was handed down by U.S. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney; the case originated in St. Louis. Under Missouri statutes, in 1846 Scott was allowed to sue for his freedom from slavery based on the fact that he had previously lived in a free territory (Wisconsin) before his return to the slave state of Missouri (Mar. 6)

1857 Work began on the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, established by Henry Shaw 1860 The short-lived Pony

Express started its first run from St. Joseph to Sacramento, California (Apr. 3)

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1861 The Battle of Wilson’s Creek resulted in a Union retreat and southwestern Missouri was left in Confederate hands until the Battle of Pea Ridge (Aug. 10)

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1865 Slavery was abolished in Missouri by an ordinance of immediate emancipation, making Missouri the first slave state to emancipate its slaves before the adoption of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution (Jan. 11) 1865 Missouri’s second

Constitution (Drake Constitution) was adopted. A group of politicians, known as “Radicals,” favored emancipation of slaves and disfranchisement of persons who were sympathetic to the Confederacy during the Civil War. The Radicals included an “Ironclad Oath” in the new constitution to exclude former Confederate sympathizers from the vote and certain occupations, severely limiting their civil rights (Apr. 10)

1881 Governor Thomas Crittenden offered a $5000 reward for the arrest and conviction of members of the Jesse James gang (Jul. 28) 1882 Jesse James was killed by Bob Ford in St. Joseph (Apr. 3)

1866 Lincoln Institute (later Lincoln University) was incorporated as an institution for black students in Missouri (Apr. 6)

1866 The Missouri Historical

Society was organized in St. Louis (Aug. 11)

1867 The Missouri Woman’s Suffrage Club was organized in St. Louis; the sole purpose of this organization was the political enfranchisement of women, the first such organization in the United States (May 8) 1870 M. Lemma Barkeloo was

the first woman lawyer in Missouri (St. Louis); She was the first woman trial lawyer in the United States, and the first woman lawyer to try a case in federal court

1871 Phoebe W. Couzins of

St. Louis became Missouri’s first woman law school graduate when she graduated from the Washington University Law Department (May 8) Couzins later became the nation’s first Woman U.S. Marshal in 1887

1872 Governor B. Gratz Brown

and family moved into the newly completed Governor’s Mansion (Jan. 20)

1873 The Missouri Supreme Court upheld a decision by the St. Louis Circuit Court, denying Virginia Minor the right to register to vote 1873 Susan Blow opened the first public kindergarten in the United States in St. Louis 1874 The first train robbery by the James Gang took place at Gads Hill (Jan. 31)

1891 St. Louis’ Wainwright Building, one of America’s first skyscrapers, was designed by Louis Sullivan 1874 The Eads Bridge, spanning the Mississippi River, was opened in St. Louis (Jul. 4) 1875 Grasshopper plague in

Missouri caused an estimated $15 million worth of damages

1875 Missouri’s third Constitution was adopted (Oct. 30)

1894 The American School of

Osteopathy was incorporated by Dr. Andrew Taylor Still in Kirksville (Oct. 30)

1898 Volunteers for the SpanishAmerican War began arriving in St. Louis (May 4) 1899 The State Historical Society

of Missouri was incorporated in Columbia (Mar. 9)

1899 Scott Joplin’s “The Maple

Leaf Rag” was published in Sedalia, Missouri

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1901 The first State Fair held at Sedalia opened (Sept. 9)

1901 The Monsanto Company

was founded in St. Louis (Nov. 29)

1904 The 1904 World’s Fair opened in St. Louis (Apr. 30) 1907 The primary election law was adopted in Missouri

1909 Missouri Supreme Court handed down a decision in the case against Standard Oil Company, affirming the company’s violation of Missouri antitrust laws

1911 Missouri State Capitol was

completely destroyed by fire after being struck by lightning (Feb. 5)

1913 Direct election of senators was authorized; previously, US senators from Missouri were elected by the General Assembly

1919 Governor Frederick D.

Gardner signed a law granting presidential suffrage to women (Apr. 5)

1931 A bill creating the Missouri State Highway Patrol was signed

by Governor Henry S. Caulfield (Apr. 24)

1931 Bagnell Dam was

completed, forming the Lake of the Ozarks, one of the largest artificial lakes in the world with approximately 1400 miles of shoreline

1933 William Rockhill Nelson

Gallery of Art, was opened to the public in Kansas City

1936 Thomas Hart Benton

painted A Social History of Missouri in the State Capitol Building’s House Lounge

1937 The first Missouri 1919 Missouri became the

eleventh state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment granting suffrage to women (Jul. 2)

1920 The Nineteenth

Amendment was added to the U. S. Constitution on August 26. Marie Byrum became the first woman to vote in Missouri history (Aug. 31)

1921 The Centennial Road Law, providing for the construction of a modern system of Missouri highways, was signed into law (Aug. 4)

1922 Mellcene T. Smith and

Sarah Lucille Turner became the first women elected to the Missouri state legislature (Nov. 7)

1927 Charles Lindbergh landed the “Spirit of St. Louis” in Paris (May 21)

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Conservation Commission was appointed (Jul. 1)

1938 The United States Supreme Court handed down its decision in the Lloyd Gaines case. The court struck a blow to Missouri’s “separate but equal” laws, stating that in the absence of an equal law school for black students, Gaines should be admitted to the University of Missouri law school (Dec. 12)

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1939 Kansas City “Boss” Tom Pendergast was sentenced to fifteen months in the federal penitentiary for income tax evasion (May 22)

1939 The McDonnell Aircraft

Corporation was organized by J.S. McDonnell; it merged with Douglas to form McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Corporation in 1967

1948 President Harry S Truman elected to the Presidency

1972 Mary Gant became Missouri’s first woman state senator

1952 Leonor K. Sullivan became Missouri’s first woman U.S. Representative

1940 The Ellis Fischel State

Cancer Center was opened in Columbia, becoming the first state-owned and operated hospital west of the Mississippi River devoted exclusively to the care of cancer patients

1945 The Missouri Supreme Court handed down its decision in the Kraemer v. Shelley St. Louis housing segregation case 1945 Missouri’s fourth, and current, Constitution became effective (Mar. 30)

1945 U.S. Vice President Harry S Truman, from Independence, became President upon the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Apr. 12)

1954 The Missouri State Penitentiary Riot (Sept. 22) 1957 Missouri Commission

1976 Republican National Convention held in Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Gerald Ford is the GOP’s presidential candidate.

on Human Rights was created (June 8)

1945 Japan signed documents of surrender ending World War II in the Pacific on the deck of the USS Missouri (Sept. 2)

1965 The Gateway Arch

(Jefferson National Expansion Memorial) designed by Eero Saarinen was completed. Located on the original settlement site of St. Louis, it symbolizes the role of St. Louis in the development of the western frontier

1977 Gwen B. Giles became

Missouri’s first African-American woman state senator

1946 Winston Churchill, former

Prime Minister of England, delivered his “Iron Curtain” speech at Fulton’s Westminster College (Mar. 5)

1968 Race riots in Kansas City in response to the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (April) 00 1

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1980 Court-ordered desegregation began in Missouri, attempting to alleviate the racial isolation of black students.

The court determined that the State of Missouri was required to pay half of the cost of school desegregation plans; numerous legal issues arose (May) 1981 A small town in Nodaway County gains national exposure by shooting the town bully in broad daylight. To this day, no one has been charged.

1993 The Great Flood of 1993

devastated parts of Missouri and the Midwest

1993 Outstanding Schools Act

was passed; it was a $310 million measure to reform Missouri schools and their funding

2011 Joplin tornado kills 158,

injures 1,150, damages estimated at $2.8 billion.

1982 Government workers began taking soil samples, testing for dioxin at Times Beach; the town was later evacuated

2014 Teen Michael Brown killed by a police officer in Ferguson, setting off racial discussions nationwide.

1984 Margaret B. Kelly became

the first woman to hold statewide office in Missouri when she was appointed to the office of State Auditor (May 30)

1994 Rams move from LA to St. Louis.

2015 Rams leave St. Louis.

2000 Mel Carnahan, who

died in a plane crash, still beats John Ashcroft, and his wife Jean Carnahan takes his Senate seat in Washington.

2001 Ashcroft is appointed U.S. Attorney General by President George W. Bush.

1987 Whiteman Air Force Base

in Knob Knoster was designated as the home of the B-2 Stealth Bomber unit

2020 Pandemic of COVID-19

reaches St. Louis. By March 2020, the state will have almost shut down.

1987 Ann K. Covington became

the first woman appointed to the Missouri Supreme Court

1988 The Missouri Supreme Court handed down its decision in the Nancy Cruzan “right to life” case

2002 Shawn Hornbeck, 11,

1988 Missouri’s first

2007 Shawn Hornbeck and

1992 Missouri voters approved

2008 The Busch family sells its

presidential primary on the occasion of Richard Gephardt, US Congressman from Missouri, running for the Democratic nomination

riverboat gambling excursions on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers

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disappears from his home in Wildwood.

another boy taken from the area, Ben Ownby, are found alive. Their abductor, Mike Devlin, is eventually given three life sentences.

beer dynasty to Belgian company InBev

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At your side throughout the journey

217 W. Columbia St., Farmington, MO 63640

Discover the Past and Become Part of Farmington History

Consider Burial in One of Farmington’s Historic Cemeteries Spaces are available to everyone in any of these three historic cemeteries owned by Cozean memorial Chapel. All types of monuments and markers are allowed (flat stones and raised stones).

For information call

573-756-4541

Our historic cemeteries are the final resting place for many Farmington pioneers ranging from Sarah Barton Murphy to modern radio star Johnny Rion. Visitors are welcome at our cemeteries to study history.

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