Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/214

 154 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI serably met in St. Louis, December 5th, 1814. There were twenty members of the house, and James Caldwell of Ste. Genevieve was chosen speaker, and Andrew Scott, clerk. William Neeley of Cape Girardeau was the president of the council. The members from Southeast Missouri were: Nicholas Wilson and Phillip McGuire, from Washington covmty; Richard S. Thomas, Thomas Caldwell, and Augustine De Mun from Ste. Genevieve; Stephen Byrd, George P. Bollinger, Robert English, Joseph Sewell, and one other from Cape Girardeau; John Davidson, George W. Hart, and Henry H. Smith from New Madrid county. The only change in the representatives from South- east Missouri in the council was the appoint- ment of John Rice Jones, in place of James Maxwell. The second session of the second general assembly met in St. Louis, January, 1815. At this session Washington coiuit.y was rep- resented by Hardage Lane and Stephen P. Austin, Ste. Genevieve coiuity by Isidore Moore, New Madrid coimty by Doctor Robert D. Dawson. This session of the general as- sembly transacted considerable business. It ordered the establishment of comity courts in the various coimties, to be made up of the justices of the peace. The clerks of these courts were also to act as recorders for the counties; two judicial circuits were created, the northern and the southern. The counties of Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau and New Madrid constituted the southern circuit, coun- ties of St. Louis, St. Charles and Washington constituted the northern circuit. Besides these acts the assembly created a new coimty known as Lawrence county. This county was erected out of the western part of New jMa- drid coiuity. The third general assembly, which met in 1816, had the following representatives from Southeast Missouri : Hardage Lane and Stephen P. Aii-stin of Washington county ; Nathaniel Cook, Isidore iloore, and John Mc- Arthur of Ste. Genevieve county; George P. Bollinger, Robert English, and John Dunn of Cape Girardeau county ; Doctor Robert D. Dawson of New Madrid county ; and Alex- ander S. Walker of Lawrence coiuity. By this time provision had been made by Congress for the election of the members of the council rather than their appointment. The members of the council from Southeast ^lissouri were : Samuel Perry from Washington county, Jos- eph Bogy from Ste. Genevieve county, William Neeley from Cape Girardeau count.v, Joseph Hunter from New Madrid county, and Rich- ard IMurphy from Lawrence county. This nieeting of the assembly chartered the Bank of St. Louis and the Bank of Missouri. Both of these institutions were afterward organ- ized in St. Louis, and both of them were authorized to issue notes to be used as cur- rency. A charter was also granted for an academy to be established in Potosi. A bounty was also placed on the killing of wolves, panthers and wild cats. It was also provided that several lotteries might be held, and it was this meeting of the assembly that enacted the first law for the creation of a school board for the city of St. Louis. It was in 1816 that an act was passed which intro- duced the common law into the territory of ]lissouri. The act specified that the common liiw of England and the statutes of a general nature enacted prior to the reign of James the First, should be enforced in the territory. It was not provided that the former laws of France and Spain should be abrogated, nor were they repealed until a much later time. The fourth, and last, general assembly met in 1818. The representation from Southeast Missouri was as follows: Lionel Browne and