USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 40
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Breton and the town contained two grist mills, a saw mill, Austin's smelter and shot tower and a sheet lead factory operated by Elias Bates.
POTOSI LAID OUT AND INCORPORATED
When Washington county was organized in 1813, Austin donated forty acres and John Rice Jones ten acres for a county seat ; the town was laid out and called Potosi. For a time there were two villages adjoining, one known as Potosi, the other Mine a Breton ; they were consolidated and incorporated in 1826 under the name of Potosi. At the time of the incorporation the town had a population of about 400. Among the buildings were a court house, a jail, a school, two churches. Catholic and Methodist Episcopal, besides a number of business buildings of various kinds. At the present time there are six churches, good public school building, the Bank of Po- tosi, with a capital of $15,000, Washington County Bank, with a capital of $10,000, a flouring mill and a number of business estab- lishments of various kinds. The streets are graded and lighted. The present population is 772. There are two weekly papers, The In- dependent, a Democratic paper, and The Journal, which is Republican.
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HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
OLD MINES
Old Mines was founded in 1802 by French settlers from Ste. Genevieve, though there had been people living in the vicinity at var- ious times from the discovery of the mines by Renault about 1726. There were thirty-one families of the old French settlers and the greater part of the population was engaged in mining. The first Catholic church in Wash- ington county was erected by the people at this village. At the present time there are two churches, Catholic and Baptist, a public school, a Catholic school, a hotel, several stores, a lead smelter, and a mill. It has a population of about 250 and is situated in Washington county six miles north of Potosi.
CALEDONIA
Caledonia, a village in Washington county about 12 miles south of Potosi, was founded in 1819 and is in the center of the famous Bellevue valley, the country around it being remarkable for its fertility. In 1899 it had three general stores, a wagon factory, a saw mill, a grist mill, a Methodist church and a Presbyterian church and a public school. At that time its population was 250, its present population is 128. The Presbyterian church is one of the oldest in Missouri, having been organized in 1825. The town was formerly the seat of Bellevue Collegiate Institute be- fore its removal to Fredericktown. There is one bank, the Bank of Caledonia, with a cap- ital of $10,000. It is the terminus of the Caledonia branch of the Iron Mountain Rail- way which runs from Mineral Point.
PERRYVILLE
Perryville is the county seat of Perry county ; it is in Center township fourteen miles
west of the Mississippi river on the Cape Gir- ardeau & Chester Railway. The town was laid out in 1822 by Robert T. Brown, Joseph Tucker and Thomas Riney, commissioners ap- pointed to select the seat of justice of Perry county. The land was owned by Bernard Layton, who donated fifty-one acres to the county as a site for the county seat. This land was surveyed and the town platted by William McLane. The lots were sold at pub- lic auction, fifty-three lots bringing a total of $1,468.25. The first merchant in the town was Ferdinand Rozier, of Ste. Genevieve, who opened a store on the north side of the public square in a wooden building; after a time he built a large brick building, which is still standing. The second merchant was Levi Block, and about 1840 Gissel and Company and T. & L. Landry began business. Among the early settlers were John Logan, who con- ducted a tan yard, Leonard Fath, a black- smith, Dr. Richard Dorsey, Dr. Reuben Shel- by, Luther Taylor and Frederick Hase, who was clerk of the court. The first incorpora- tion of the town was made in 1831, the trustees being Clayton D. Abernathy, George Killian, Luther Taylor, Dr. Richard Dorsey and William A. Keyte. This organization was allowed to lapse after a short time and the town was not reincorporated until 1856; at that time the trustees were Leon DeLassus, John Bridgeman, George W. Enler, Bernard Cissell and Leonard Fath. At the breaking out of the Civil war the population was about 300; the town suffered some during the war, but not so greatly as many other towns in this part of the state. At this time there were about 60 business houses, including bank, flouring mill, brick and ice plants, hotels, general stores, etc. There are four churches and a good system of public schools. St. Marys Seminary, which was established in
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1818, is a large and flourishing Catholic school, situated just outside of the city limits; the school owns valuable land and has several large buildings. The population of the town is 1,708. There are two banks in the town with a combined capital of $35,000. The Perry County Sun is a Democratic weekly, and The Republican is Republican in politics.
LONGTOWN
Longtown, a village in Perry county, was settled in 1860. The first residents were John Long, Emil Urban, lIerman Funke, Valentine Bergmann, Frederick Sehade and Oliver Abernathy. The place was incorporated in April, 1874, the first time and Valentine Bergmann was the first mayor. Emil Urban and Oliver Abernathy were the first merchants in the town. At the present time there are three general stores and one flouring .mill. The town is situated on the Cape Girardeau & Chester Railroad and has a population of 158.
ALTENBURG
The town of Altenburg in Perry county, was founded in 1847, one of the first settlers being C. F. Walther. Shortly after the found- ing of the town stores were opened by Zach- arial Mueller, George Mueller and John Knennell. The town was settled by Germans who were Lutherans, and shortly after the settlement was made they founded the college, whose history we have given in another place. A building was ereeted and this building is still in existence and steps have been taken to preserve it on account of its historic interest. The town was incorporated July 5, 1870, and Dr. E. E. Buenger was its first mayor. At the present time there are three general stores, a swing factory and a creamery. The financial interests are cared for by the Bank of Altenburg with a capital of $10,000. The more im- portant buildings of the town are the high school and Lutheran church building. The present population is 279.
CHAPTER XXI
WAYNE AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES
GREENVILLE, EARLY AND LATE-PIEDMONT-PATTERSON - DESOTO - CRYSTAL CITY - HER- CULANEUM - HILLSBORO - KIMMSWICK-H EMATITE.
In 1819 Greenville was platted on the St. Francois river by the commissioners for establishing the seat of justice in Wayne county. The early merchants were Van Horn & Wheeler, William Creath, Lysander Flinn and Zenas Smith. The hotels of the early times were kept by Moses Timmons and Jo- seph Bennett. The first physicians were : E. W. Bennett, Drs. Payne, Capp and Dickey. The town grew very slowly. It was at a dis- tance from any great number of people, and all the goods that were bought and sold there must be hauled from the Mississippi river, usually from Cape Girardeau. In 1826 it was damaged by an overflow of the St. Fran- cois river, which covered the town to a depth of several feet. The town was built on level ground, and it is difficult to protect it from a rise in the river.
For a great many years Greenville was without any railroad facilities, being situated at a distance of twenty miles from the nearest point on the Iron Mountain Railroad. About 1894 the Holliday Land & Lumber Company, a corporation interested in timber lands, saw mills and mining, began the construction of a railroad from Williamsville to Greenville, and at Greenville erected the shops for the railroad and also a very large mill for the man- ufacture of lumber. This railroad was after- wards extended to the northwest a distance of twenty miles from Greenville. The build-
ing of the railroad, together with the estab- lishment of the mill, brought about a consid- erable growth in the town. It became a pros- perous mercantile community. The mills, however, are now no longer in operation and the town depends for its support almost en- tirely upon the farming community about it and upon its importance as the county seat. 'There are now two general stores in the town, but no factories. Greenville has two banks : the Citizens, with a capital of $10,000, and the Wayne County, with a capital of $25,000. Among the more important buildings are the court house, a two-story brick structure and a good public school building, which gives accommodation to about 600 pupils.
In 1899 it contained about 125 business houses, including two banks, opera house, two fiouring mills, five carriage and wagon shops, machine shop, electric light and ice plants, three hotels, a number of general stores, and miscellaneous establishments.
The town is situated on the St. Francois river and a part of it is subject to overflow at the time of unusually high water. It has had one or two disastrous experiences with floods. It is laid out in a very irregular manner, it being a common tradition in the town that the streets were originally deter- mined by corn rows. Its present population is 914. The papers in the town are the Wayne County Journal, which is Democratic
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in politics, and the Greenville Sun, Republi- can.
PIEDMONT
Piedmont is a city of the fourth class 'sit- uated in Benton township, Wayne county, on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway. It was laid out at the completion of the Iron Mountain road to that point about 1860. It was made the division point of the railroad, the repair shops were erected and the town prospered very greatly. In 1888
PATTERSON
Patterson, a town in Logan township, Wayne county, dates its beginning back to the year 1854. It was then known as Isbell's store, owing to the fact that Isbell was the first, and for a number of years the only merchant in the town.
DESOTO
DeSoto, the largest town in Jefferson county, is situated on the St. Louis, Iron
HIGH SCHOOL, DESOTO
about one-half of the business part of the town was destroyed by fire, and it has had other destructive fires since that time. It has revived from these damages, however, and is now a prosperous and growing community. It has good streets and sidewalks, electric lights, four churches, a good public school, which is housed in a modern school building, two banks, a flouring mill and about twenty other business enterprises of various kinds. The Piedmont Banner is a weekly paper pub- lished by Bristol French.
There are three banks in the town with a combined capital of $55,000. The present population is 1,154.
Mountain & Southern Railway forty-seven miles south of St. Louis. It is built partly in the valley of Joachim creek and partly on the hills overlooking the valley. The first resident on the site of the town was Van Horne, who opened a farm here in 1808. In 1855 Colonel John W. Fletcher built a residence and saw mill on the site; the town was not laid out until 1857, when Thomas C. Fletcher, afterward governor of Missouri, and Lewis J. Rankin had the site surveyed and began the sale of lots. A postoffice was estab- lished with C. E. Fletcher as the first post- master; E. M. Boli in the same year opened the first store, and the first brick house in the
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town was built by D. Cohen. The population grew slowly at first and did not exceed 200 by 1861, but at the close of the war it began to increase rapidly and the town was incorpo- rated in 1869. The car works and machine shops of the Iron Mountain Railway Company were located in DeSoto in 1872 on condition that necessary grounds should be donated by the citizens and that the property of the com- pany should be forever exempt from taxation. Owing to certain irregularities the city was incorporated two or three times before 1883. Soon after the establishment of the town an educational institution known as DeSoto Academy was organized by Professor Trum- ble for which a large building was erected. He gave up the work in 1868 and the school was closed for a time and the building used for private school purposes until 1886 when it was burned. In 1882 a stone and brick public school building was erected on the hill above the town at a cost of $15,000, and in 1905 "a high school building adjoining the older build- ing was erected; the public school at present employs about twenty-five teachers and is well and thoroughly organized; there are also two other ward school buildings and a school for negroes. There are many churches in the town-the Baptist, Methodist, Southern Metli- odist, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Episco- pal, Roman Catholic, German Methodist and Evangelical - each having church buildings and organizations. There is also a fine build- ing for the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, the funds for which were provided in large part by Miss Helen Gould. The lead- ing industry of the town is the car works of the railroad; other industries are flouring mills, ice plant, planing mill, machine factory, wagon factory and marble and bottling works. The Jefferson County bank and the Peoples' Bank of Desoto were organized in 1885 and the German-American bank was organized in 1898; they are all prosperous and enterprising
institutions with ample capital. The news- papers of the town are The Press and The Republican. The town has a good system of electric lights and water works, being sup- plied from artesian wells. There are many beautiful residences and the population of the town is 4,721.
CRYSTAL CITY
Crystal City is situated in Jefferson county on Plattin creek, thirty miles south of St. Louis. The land on which the town now stands was entered in 1834 by an eastern com- pany with the expectation of finding mineral on it; the site, however, was not occupied nor were minerals found at that time. In 1868 the place was visited by three English expert glass makers, who shipped two barrels of sand to England, which when tested proved to be of a very superior quality. The first success- ful attempt to make use of this sand was made in 1871. At that time the American Plate Glass Company of Detroit, Michigan, with a capital of $150,000 was organized by Captain E. D. Ward. Theodore Luce was appointed as superintendent and a plant for the manu- facture of glass was constructed and put. in operation in 1872. Because of the fact that the owners were Michigan people the village which grew up around the plant was called New Detroit, but the workmen persisted in giving it the name of Crystal City, which was afterwards adopted. The financial panic of 1873 and the death of Captain Ward caused the plant to be sold; it was purchased by a St. Louis corporation-the Crystal Plate Glass Company, of which Ethan Allen Hitchcock was president-for $25,000. This company increased the capital stock to $1,500.000 and appointed George F. Neal superintendent, and purchased additional land. It is said that the company owns about 250 acres of almost pure sand besides other property. This company built the
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Crystal City Railroad, extending from the works to Silica ou the Iron Mountain, a distance of three and a half miles. The railroad was operated until the building of the Frisco south from St. Louis to Memphis. The plant later came under the control of the Pittsburg Plate Glass Company, who now own and operate it. About 2,000 people are em- ployed by the company and the product of the plant amounts to a large sum each year. The present town is supported almost exclu- sively by the Company. There is a good public school and several business establish- ments, and one church building. This church building was erected by the Company and stands in the midst of about three acres of very beautiful, well kept grounds. It was first turned over to the Episcopalians but is now free for the services of all denominations. The population of Crystal City is about 1,200.
HERCULANEUM
A town in Jefferson county thirty miles south of St. Louis. It was at one time one of the most important settlements in the west. The land on which the town stands was pur- chased in 1808 by Samuel Hammond and Moses Lawson, who laid it out in town lots and began the sale of the lots. The advantage of the situation of the town was twofold. In the first place it was near the lead region and in the second place it was situated on bluffs over- looking the Mississippi river, on which it was possible to erect shot towers for the manu- facture of shot at a very little cost; in fact, no tower was really necessary, as the melted lead could be dropped from the top of the bluff into the water below. The first estab- lishment for making shot was erected at the mouth of Joachim creek by John M. Macklot of St. Louis. Other shot towers were erected within a short time and considerable quanti- ties of lead and shot were manufactured.
Long says (p. 104) that there were three
shot factories at Herculaneum in 1819, all of them built on the summits of perpendicular precipices, by which means the erecting of high towers has been avoided.
Flagg ("Far West," p. 93) gives this bit of description : "In a few moments the forest opened unexpectedly before me and at my feet rolled on the turbid floods of the Missis- sippi, beyond which went up the towering cliffs of limestone to the height of more than a hundred feet from the water's edge, were the cliffs of Herculaneum with their shot towers."
When Jefferson county was organized in 1818 Herculaneum was made the county seat and continued to grow and prosper until the lead which had been transported to Hercula- neum for shipments on the river began to be sent from two other shipping points known as Selma and Rush Tower. They afforded some- what better facilities for shipping than Her- culaneum and the town began to decline. The county seat was taken away in 1836 and re- moved to Monticello, afterward called Hills- boro. The town lost a great deal of its im- portance until the establishment of plants for the smelting of lead. When the Missis- sippi River & Bonne Terre Railway was con- structed a large smelting plant was built on the river at Herculaneum and great quanti- ties of lead ore were brought from the mines to be smelted in this plant. It is still one of the important lead manufacturing towns in the state. The town is supported almost eu- tirely by the lead company. It has a bank called the Bank of Herculaneum, with a capi- tal of $10,000; a small public school, two churches, and half a dozen business estab- lishments, and its population is about 800. The Herculaneum Hustler is a weekly news- paper and is Republican in politics.
There is still standing the chimney of the old house where Governor Thomas C. Fletcher was born, and also the remains of one of the first shot towers (about 1808).
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HILLSBORO
The first settler on the site of Hillsboro was a man named Hanson, who moved there in 1832 and laid out the town. The place was first called Monticello, but on the removal of the seat of justice from Herculaneum to this place the name was changed to Hillsboro. It is a typical country town, being without rail- road facilities, the nearest shipping points be-
of the ore from Pilot Knob was brought here for smelting; this was in 1873, and the plant was operated until 1882. At the present time the town is supported by the agricultural country about it. There are Presbyterian and Catholic churches and a public school. The town is on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway and also on the St. Louis & San Francisco. Just north of the town is Montesano Springs, a summer resort.
MAIN STREET, HILLSBORO
ing Desoto and Victoria on the Iron Mountain Railway. It has a church, a public school, a hotel, two weekly newspapers-the Jefferson Democrat and the Jefferson County Record- a bank with a capital stock of $10,000, and its population is 261.
KIMMSWICK
Kimmswick is situated on the Mississippi river, twenty-one miles south of St. Louis. It was laid out as a town by Theodore Kimm in 1859. At one time the town bid fair to be- come one of considerable importance; this was during the operation of iron mines at Pilot Knob and Iron Mountain. A large smelting plant was erected in Kimmswick and much
The Bank of Kimmswick has a capital stock of $10,000. The population of Kimmswick is 235.
HEMATITE
A town in Jefferson county on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway, thirty- five miles southwest of St. Louis, was laid out in 1861 by Stephen Osborn of St. Louis. It contains Christian, Congregational and Meth- odist churches, a public school, a flour mill and some other business establishments. It is the shipping point for a large amount of building stone quarried in the vicinity of the town. Its population is about 200.
CHAPTER XXII
ST. FRANCOIS, BOLLINGER AND PEMISCOT COUNTIES
PRESENT-DAY BISMARCK - LIBERTYVILLE - FARMINGTON-MARBLE HILL-LUTESVILLE-GAY- OSO-CARUTHERSVILLE.
Birmarek, in St. Francois county, was set- tled in 1860 and incorporated twenty years later. Among its early settlers were S. C. Mantler, W. H. Evans, L. Sherrill, the Dent family, the Cooleys and the Matkins. The first merchants in the town were Columbus Grider, Sims and Boss. The early importance of the town was due almost entirely to the construction of the Iron Mountain Railroad and its growth has depended principally upon the farming community in which it is situated and its railroad interests.
PRESENT-DAY BISMARCK
Bismarck has now five general stores, but the only manufacturing establishment is a flouring mill. The more important buildings in the town are the hotel and the I. O. O. F. hall; it is the division point of the Iron Moun- tain Railroad and the western terminus of the Illinois Southern, and is also the connection point of the Belmont branch with the main line of the Iron Mountain. The town has a good public school and the usual church or- ganizations. Its financial interests are cared for by the Bank of Bismarck, which has a capital stock of $25,000. The population of Bismarck is 848. The Bismarck Gazette is a weekly newspaper and is independent in poli- ties. It is published by George Bisplinghoff.
LIBERTYVILLE
This village in St. Francois county is situ- ated in the Cook settlement, one of the oldest communities in Southeast Missouri. It is six miles from Knoblick on the railroad and has a large flouring mill, a brick school building and a church.
FARMINGTON
The county seat of St. Francois county was located and surveyed as a town in February, 1822. It was located on land belonging to David Murphy, the site of the old Murphy settlement which was made about the year 1800. Murphy donated to St. Francois county fifty-two acres of land and the county ap- pointed Henry Postom, John Andrews, Wil- liam Shaw, Mark Dent and William Alexan- der as commissioners to locate the seat of justice. The survey of the town was made by Henry Poston. The first store was opened in 1823 in a small log building on the west side of the public square, by John D. Peers; later he removed to the east side of the square and in 1833 formed a partnership with M. P. Cayce. Among the other merchants at that time were Henry W. Crowell and J. J. Brady ; a saddlery shop was owned and managed by a Mr. Day, and the hotel was conducted by
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John Boaz. The town was incorporated as a village by order of the county court in 1856, with John Cobb and George W. Williams as trustees; William R. Taylor was city clerk. It was incorporated as a city of the fourth class in 1878, the first mayor being Alvin Rucker. The town grew slowly and depended upon the farming community about it and also upon its possession of the county seat. At the breaking out of the war it had a popu- lation of about 500. At this time the princi- pal merchants were M. P. Cayce, S. A. Dout- hitt & Son, Peers & Company, and Arnold & Rucker. The first grist mill was built in 1856 by M. P. Cayce and S. A. Douthitt ; this mill, afterward enlarged and remodeled, was known as the Farmington roller mills. The town suffered considerable injury by the fact that the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railroad was built at a distance of two and a half miles to the west, owing to the fact that the town refused to subscribe to the stock of the rail- road. However, the injury to the town was neither serious nor permanent, and contrary to general expectation the business was not moved to the new town of DeLassus. The principal merchants in the period from 1880 to 1890 were Dalton & Marks, J. Krieger, S. S. Smith, Cole & Hackaday, M. Rosenthal, Simon J. Copson, Thomas Williams; general mer- chants, Orten & Davis, F. E. Klein & Com- pany, S. C. Gosson and J. H. Waide; grocers, J. R. McCormick, Brad Robinson, A. Rucker and A. Parkhurst; druggist, Robert Tetlay ; jeweler, C. E. Barroll; stationer, Lang & Brother; lumber dealers, Giessing Brothers, proprietors of the Farmington Roller mills.
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