Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/362

 CHAPTER XXVI CREATION OF NEW COUNTIES St. Francois County — Scott County — Organization and Settlement of Stoddard County — Ripley County — Pioneers op Dunklin County — Reynolds, Butler and Bol- linger Counties — Pemiscot County — St. Francois Levee District — Courts of the County and Prominent Citizens — Iron and Carter Counties — Founders of the Eight Old Counties. The state had hardly been admitted into the Union until new counties were formed. On December 19, 1821, a bill became law for the creation of part of the counties of Ste. Gene- vieve, Washington and Jefferson into a new county, to be known as St. Francois county. St. Francois County The new county was named from the St. Francois river, which runs almost entirely through it. The governor of the state ap- pointed James Austin, George McGehan and James W. Smith as the county court. They held the first meeting of the court February 25, 1822, at the house of Jesse Murphy, in the neighborhood of Farmington, and ap- pointed John D. Peers as county clerk. St. Francois county was attached to the northern circuit and the circuit coui't was organized April 1, 1822, by Judge Nathaniel B. Tucker of St. Charles county. There was no particular business before the court at this first meeting, nor at any early subsequent meetings. The commissioners for the selec- tion of the seat of justice were Henry Poston, John Andrews, William Alexander and James Holbert. On September 22, 1822, fifty-three acres of land were donated by D. Murphy for the purpose of laying out a county seat. They thereupon laid out the present town of Farm- ington, which has continued to be the seat of justice since that time. The county was divided into four town- ships: Perry, Pendleton, Liberty and St. Francois. The officers in these townships were : Perrj' — William Hale, constable ; John Andrews Jr., assessor; Thomas Hale, Archi- bald McHenry and John Baker, judges of election. Pendleton — Wesley Garret, con- stable and assessor; James Milburn, Absalom Dent and John Sherrill, judges of election. Liberty — Robert Haj's, constable ; James Dun- lap, assessor; Reuben McFarland, James Dun- lap and Samuel Kincaid, judges of election. St. Francois — Benjamin Burnham, constable ; Laken Walker, assessor; Richard Murphy, John IMurphy and D. F. Marks, judges of election. Until 1824 the courts were held in the Meth- odist church, which at that time stood on the hill south of town where the cemetery now is. In that year a brick court house wa,s built on the public square and at the same time a log jail was erected on the site of the present jail. 302