Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/347

 HISTORY OP SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 287 through tlie old village of Clarkton. It, im- mediately revived and took on new life, and is now a prosperous and tlourishing town, having several good general stores, two banks, and boasts a population of 682. The people of Clarkton have recently con- structed a new school building, which is justly the pride of the citizens of the town. At one time Clarkton was the largest town in Dunk- lin county and constructed the first building for school purposes of any pretentions what- ever. This frame building was used for many years, but has recently been superseded by a new and better building. A well was bored near the town in 1910 in an effort to find oil or gas. This effort was unsuccessful, but at a depth of about 1,000 feet a strong flow of artesian water was found. IIORNERSVILLE Hornersville, in the south part of Dunklin county, was established in 1840 by William H. Horner, llr. Horner was the first mer- chant of the town and its most prominent citizen. The town received its name from him. It had a very limited growth prior to the war, there being only a few stores up to this time. It is now on the line of the Paragould Southeastern Railroad and is a flourishing business community. It has a number of good stores, several cotton gins and its financial interests are cared for by the Bank of Hor- nersville, chartered in 1909 ; it has a capital stock of $10,000. Its present population is 390. There are cotton gins and sawmills which contribute to the town's prosperity. Its s.ys- tem of schools is well organized. It is in the finest farming country in Southeast Missouri and will always be a prosperoixs community. There are two churches — Methodist and Bap- tist. Mississippi County Seat ' Charleston, the coimty seat of Mississippi county, was laid off as a town in 1837, sixteen acres being surveyed in twelve blocks. The land on which it was laid off belonged to Thankful Randol, Joseph Moore and W. P. Barnard. The first person to reside on the town site seems to have been Humphrey War- ren, who built a small log house there about 1830. His house and land was bought by Thankful Randol, who resided at the place until her death. After the town of Charleston was established she kept a hotel. The first store in the town was opened by John West and his partner, whose name was Neil. Other merchants were Arthur R. Newman, Henry G. Cuiumings, and Kuran Gorman. Gorman was one of the largest and most successful merchants in Charleston prior to the war, and is said to have become wealthy tlirough his trading operations. One of the men who did much to build the town up and make it prosperous was George Whitcomb. He moved to Charleston shortly after the town was founded and built a large, double log house on the lot where Hon. J. J. Russell now lives. He was a public spirited man and accom- plished a great deal for the town. It was largely due to his work and influence that the Cairo & Fulton Railroad was secured for Charleston. He was clerk of the courts for al)out twenty years and during most of that time was also a dealer in real estate. The first newspaper in Charleston was estab- lished in 1857. It was known as The Courier, and its editor was George Whitcomb. T]ic Courier was one of the few papers in South- oast Missouri that was published during the war. From 1858 to 1S72 the manager, and for a part of the time the editor, was W. F.