Excerpts, Scott County Newsboy, Scott County, Missouri --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following is an excerpt is from: The Scott County Missouri Newsboy, April 20, 1900 Vol XIII No 11. Transcribed by: Edward Reynolds elreynolds@reynoldsgen.org 20 Brookview Dr Lawrenceville, GA 30243 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Biographical and Industrial Edition THE SCOTT COUNTY MISSOURI NEWSBOY VOL. XIII Benton, MO., April 20, 1900 No. 11. This county is one of the group designated as Southeast Missouri, and is situated in the far southeastern portion of the state. The Mississippi River forms its eastern boundary. To the north lies Cape Girardeau County and to the south are New Madrid and Mississippi Counties, while Stoddard County joins it on the west. Its location is described in the Revised Statutes of Missouri, 1889, as follows: "Beginning at the northeast corner of Mississippi County, thence southwestardly with the northern boundary line of said County to the northeast cornor of the southeast quarter of section 26, in township 26 north, range 14 east, thence westwardly with the northern boundary line of New Madrid County, as established in section 3037, to White Water River, thence with the boundary as now established by law to the place of beginning. Many points of information long since chronicled by the press of historians might be included in this article, but as such history does not deal particularly with Scott County, we deem it somewhat foreign to this work. That prehistoric race, the Mound Builders, whom it is supposed had their center of civilization along the Mississippi Valley, left strong and conclusive evidence of their one time residence in Scott and the adjoining counties, but principally in the latter, although many traces of this people have been found in this county. SETTLEMENT OF SCOTT COUNTY Durring the year 1789, a road known as King's road was marked out from Ste. Genevieve to New Madrid, and it was along this road that the settlements were most numerous in New Madrid District and what is now Scott County. One of the earliest settlers was Edward Robertson, who, with his son-in-law, Moses Hurley, located near where Sikeston now is. The former was an extensive land speculator, and also kept a store and trading post. He was entirely uneducated and could not write his name, but he was a shrewd business man and succeeded in keeping most of the other settles in his debt. In 1796 or 1797, Capt. Charles Friend, with his family, came from Monogahela County, Va., and secured a concession of land near the present site of Benton. He had been a captian in the Revolutionary War, and was at this time about 75 years of age. He had a family of nine sons, three of whom, Jonas, John and Jacob, each received the customary concession of 800 arpents of land, an inducement to settlers at that time, About 1811 John Ramsey removed from Cape Girardeau and located on what is now the county poor farm, where he remainded until his death in 1837. Joseph Hunter, one of the most distinguished pioneers of Southeast Missouri, located near the present site of Sikeston about 1806. He was a son of a Scotch Irish Presbyterian, who immigrated to America from the North of Ireland prior to the Revolutionary War. Durring the early settlement of Kentucky the family removed to Louisville. A brother of Joseph who had been an officer in the continental received a grant of land on the river above Sikeston in what is still known as "Hunter's Bottom." The mother of Joseph and a sister were killed by the Indians while in a flax fled near their home; a brother, Abraham, also met his death at the hands of the savages. Upon the Organization of the Missouri Territory, Joesph Junter was appointed by President Madison a member of the territorial council. He had a large family and his decendants are very numerous. His eldest son, Mildred, removed to Grand Gulf, Miss. The second son, Abraham, married Sally Ogden and became the father of three sons and three daughters, viz: Isaac, at one time a judge of the Scott County court; Joseph, residing in New Madrid, and Benjamin F. who lived near Sikeston and was one of the largest land owners in Southeast Missouri; Catherine, who married first Americus Price and second Marmaduke Beckwith, Mary who married Archibald Price, and Amanda. Abraham Hunter in his day was probably the best known politican in Southeast Missouri and served successively, in one or the other of the branches of the state legislature for twenty years. James, another son of Joseph Hunter, married Lucy Beckwith, and had two children, Joseph, killed in the battle of Pilot Knob, and Kate. David, a fourth son married his cousin, Nancy Phillips, by whom he had three children, Samuel, Betty and Jennie. Joseph Hunter Jr., married Elizabeth Johnson, and was the father of two children, Marie, who married Major James Parrot, and Ann, who became the wife of Joseph H. Moore. Thomas, the youngest sons of Joseph Hunter, Sr., married Eliza Meyers and raised two children, Nannie Kate and William. Of the daughters of Joseph Hunter, Mary married Andrew Giboney, of Cape Girardeau, whose daughter is the wife of Hon. Louis Houck, and Hanna married Mark H. Stallcup, of New Madrid County. Capt. William Meyers was the first settler on the site of Benton. He was a native of North Carolina, but lived for a time in Tennessee. He was a commissioned officer in the war of 1812, and distinguished himself as an Indian fighter. That part of Scott County formerly known as Tywappity Bottom, which extended from Commerce to Bird's Point, began to receive settlers as early as 1798. Among them James Brady, James Curran, Charles Findlay, Edmund Hogan, Thomas, John and James Welborn, and Stephen, Josiah, and Robert Quimby. About 1802, Thomas W. Waters, a South Carolinian, located on the site of Commerce, and established a trading post and store in partnership with Robert Hall. He also kept a ferry across the Mississippi. He died a few years after coming to Scott County. ORGANIZATION The Territory now embraced in Scott County during the Spanish Administration was attached to the post of Cape Girardeau, and the proclamation issued by Gov. Harrison, defining the boundaries of the districts of Upper Louisanna in 1804, did not change the line between New Madrid and Cape Girardeau, but on June 7, 1805, Gov. Wilkinson, by proclamation fixed the line as follows: "beginning at an outlet of the river Mississippi called the Great Swamps, below Cape Girardeau, and extending through the center of same to the river St. Francois, and thence until it strikes the present northern boundary of the district of New Madrid, and with the same westwardly as far as the same extends." This change proved very inconvenient to the people living in Tywappity Bottom, who had hitherto transacted all their business at Cape Girardeau, and in response to a pettion from them the governor, on August 15, 1806 issued a second proclamation fixing the boundary as follows: "The southern boundry of the district of Cape Girardeau shall from and, after the date hereof, be fixed and determined by a due west line, to be connected on the right bank of the Mississippi adjoining to and below the plantation of Abraham Bird opposite the mouth of the Ohio." This remained the boundary between the districts of Cape Girardeau and New Madrid unitl the organization of the counties in 1813. The limits of New Madrid were extended to include nearly all of what is now Scott County, but on December 28, 1821, the following act of the legislature was approved. "An Act dividing the county of New Madrid, and erecting the same into two seperate and distinct counties -- The now of New Madrid shall be and the same is hereby divided into two separate and distinct counties, by a line running as follows: beginning in the main channel of the the river Mississippi, opposite a small creek or bayou, called James Creek or Bayou, thence in a direct line to the mouth of said creek; thence in a northwesterly course to a point in the swamps to a point due north of the line between townships 25 and 26 east of the principal meridian, parallel with the northern boundary line of a tract of land situated in the upper end of the Big Prairie originally granted and confirmed to Moses Hurly, and where Mrs. Elizabeth Phillips now lives; thence running due west to the western boundary line of said county of New Madrid; and that the said tract of county lying to the southward of said line shall be continued to be called and known by the name of New Madrid County and that tract lying nothwardly and eastwardly of said line shall be called and be known by the name of Scott County." By the same act, Enoch Evans, Abraham Hunter, Thomas Roberts, Joseph Smith and Newman Beckwith were appointed to locate the seat of justice for Scott County. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Edward Reynolds (© 1997 Edward Reynolds ) USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free genealogical information on the Internet, data may be freely used for personal research and by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for profit or any form of presentation, must obtain the written consent of the file submitter, or their legal representative, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------