Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/236

 176 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI opening up lauds. The first settler in an.y community set himself down in the midst of the woods, cleared away a little space for his farm, and erected a rude log house. He was most probably miles and miles away from the nearest neighbor. This isolation, however, did not affect him very much. The very fact that he had made his way into a new country and faced the conditions of pioneer life was sufficient evidence that he was not to be daunted by the fact that neighbors were few. He was not long allowed, however, to dwell alone. Other people came, more of the forest was cleared away, and other log houses were erected. In a little while there w'as a settle- ment. The settlers, however, were not crowded into to^'ns. they were scattered on their farms. There was something, however, of a com- miuiit.y life. There were some attempts made to hold schools in the settlements, in some of them church houses were erected. Many of the settlements were made by persons previously aeq-uainted ; in some eases families came and opened up new lands. "Where this was not true, it was not long until acquaintance was formed. The families thus living in the same communities intermarried and there came to be something of a solidarity and unity about the life of the community. The trans- formation was little less than marvelous: where all had been forest, and wild life had reigned supreme, there came to be cultivated fields and houses and even villages. This process went on all over Southeast jMissouri. These immigrants were almost all of them Americans. They came from Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee. Virginia, and other states. They were moved by various motives. Some of them were attracted by the cheapness of the lands, others felt that the states in which they lived were becoming overcrowded, many of them had that spirit that moves people out on the frontier. They did not like to live in commimities where neighbors were near to them. Whatever it was that brought them, they came, and in large and increasing num- bers. At the time of the transfer to the United States there were only a few settlements out- side of the to^^•ns of Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau and New Madrid. There were a few settlers in Jefferson, Perry, "Wayne, Bol- linger, Scott, ]Iississippi and Pemiscot coun- ties, but the great numbers of population were in the towns or immediately adjoining them. The growth of population under the United States was not confined to the country ; the towns grew rapidly in population. Those that were already established had, of course, the advantage ; but other towns sprung up also. In 1803 New Madrid district, including Little Prairie and Arkansas, contained 1,350 people, two-thirds of whom were Americans and one-third were French. Cape Girardeaw had 1,470 white population, besides a few slaves. All of the white population, except a few French families, were Americans. In Ste. Genevieve there were 2,350 whites, 520 slaves, and more than one-half the population was American. In 1814 a census was taken of the white male population and the figures here given are those of this census: New TIadrid had 1,548, Cape Girardeau 2,062, Ste. Genevieve 1.701, and "Washington county had 1,010. It is probable that the entire adult population in each ease was about twice the figures here given. By the year 1820 one or more settlements had been made within the limits of most of the counties in southeast IMissouri. Several of these counties, however, had not yet been created. There were in existence only Ste. Genevieve, "Washington, "Wayne, Jefferson,