Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/344

 CHAPTER XXIII DUNKLIN AND MISSISSIPPI Old-Time Kennett — Modern Town Dates from Railroad — Clarkton — Horneesville — Mississippi County Seat — Charleston op the Present — Belmont. Kennett, the coimty seat of Dunklin county, was laid out as a town in 1840. It was first called CHilletecaux, after the Indian village which was near. In 1849 the legislature of the state changed its name to Butler. A few years after that time it received its present name, in honor of Luther M. Kennett. Old-Time Kennett The first merchant in the town of Kennett was Elbert C. Spiller. Some of the other early merchants were James Cude, A. M. Davis, J. R. McCuUough, John S. Houston, John li. Marsh and Campbell Wright. The town grew slowly for a good many years and was supported in part by the business of the county seat. It is surrounded by very fertile land, but this land for many years was unde- veloped and the population of the county was small. In 1847 a small log building was erected as a court hou.se. It was placed in the center of the public square, about where the present court house stands. It was used until during the war, when it was destroyed. The first jail was built at the same time of the court house building. It, too, was of logs. and was used until after the war. The town suffered greatly during the war, •as it was in territory traversed by botli armies and was sometimes in the hands of lawless men. After the war there was not much left except a small village. Progress was very slow for many years. The town was so far from river and rail transportation that it seemed practically impossible for it to develop. The population of the county grew but the great bulk of its trade went to Cape Girar- deau. That was the nearest accessible point on the river. The cotton and other products of Dunklin coimty soil were hauled to that place, and the diy goods and supplies used by the people brought back in return. With the building of the Cairo & Texas Raih-oad from Cairo to Poplar Bluff, Dexter became the great trading point for Dimklin county. A little later IIalden, the western terminus of the St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas Railway (later the St. Louis Southwestern) was the most important trading center. There were alwaj's a few stores at Kennett during this period, but they carried small stocks of goods and made little effort to pro- vide a market for the county's products. This failure to provide for handling the crops was due to a number of things. The distance from adequate means of transportation, the lack of sufficient capital, and the method then in vogue of handling cotton, which was the most important staple crop. At that time cotton was ginned before being sold by the farmer. 284