Springfield-Greene
County LibraryCompiled by Arthur Paul Moser
[I]
Platte Purchase
In 1820 (1) Missouri was admitted as a State of the Union with its present boundaries, except what is known as the Platte Purchase, which was added to it under an act of Congress by a bill introduced into the Senate of the United States by Senator Thomas H. Benton, and passed in June, 1836. This gave to the State the strip of country, in the form of a triangle, in the northwest corner, and which has since been divided by the Legislature of the State into six counties, viz: Platte, organized December 31, 1837; Buchanan, February 13, 1839; Andrew, January 29, 1841; Holt, February 15, 1841; Atchison, January 14, 1845; Nodaway, February 15, 1845. The purchase contained over 3,000 square miles, or 2,000,000 acres. (--Ency. of the Hist. of Mo., 1901, Conard, Vol. 5, p. 151.)
1. Missouri was admitted to the Union, as the twenty-fourth State, August 10, 1821. President Monroe issued the proclamation. (--Ibid, Vol. 4, p. 418.)
For the signatures of the Indian Chiefs, it is suggested that Hist. of Platte & Clay Counties, 1885, p. 552, be consulted.
The Legislature convened November 19, 1838, and promptly a bill was brought forward -- as soon as the two houses were organized and ready for work -- for the formation of the present counties of Platte and Buchanan ... Within six weeks from the first day of the session it had become a law, receiving the Governor's signature, December 31, 1838. (--Hist. of Clay & Platte Counties, 1885, p. 569.)
Note: According to records in the office of the Secretary of State, Jefferson City, Mo., July 18, 1973, the dates of the organization of the counties is as follows:
Platte, December 31, 1838
Buchanan, February 10, 1838
Andrew, January 29, 1841
Holt, February 15, 1841
Atchison, January 14, 1845
Nodaway, February 14, 1845
[II]
Carroll Township
Carroll Township ... contains the county seat. Its area is larger (1885) than that of any other township in the county, excepting Green and embraces 62 square miles. It is bounded on the north by Fair and Preston Townships, on the east by Clay County, on the south by May and Preston Townships, and on the west by Lee and Fair, from which it is separated by the Platte River ...
The early settlers of Carroll Township were generally from Kentucky ... and a few of them were Jesse Morin ... Turner Moore, Edward Moore ... Wm. Brindle and others. (--pp. 910, 911.)
Fair Township
Fair Township ... was originally a part of Lee Township, and is bounded on the north by Green Township, on the east by Preston and Carroll, from which it is separated by the Platte River, on the south by Carroll and Lee and on the west by Weston Township, and the Missouri River ...
Some of the early settlers of this township were Jno. Boulware, Stephen English, L. Sloan ... and others. (--p. 990.)
Green Township
Green Township is bounded on the north by Buchanan County, on the east by Preston Township, on the south by Fair Township, and on the west by Weston and Marshall Townships. It is one of the largest municipal townships in the county, and is ten miles from east to west and seven and a quarter miles from north to south ...
Among the early settlers of Green Township were Isaac Dean, Warren Harris, Robert Mitchell ... the Holland family and others. (--pp. 1011, 1012.)
Lee Township
Lee Township originally included in its present (1885) territory all of Weston and substantially all of Fair. It is bounded on the north by Fair Township, on the east by Carroll and Pettis Townships from which it is separated by the Platte River, on the south by Waldron Township and the Missouri River, and on the west by the Missouri River ... It was named for Gen. Robert E. Lee ...
Among those who settled in this township at an early day were Joseph Farley (see Farley), Lew Staggers ... Elijah Harrington, and others. (--p. 978.)
[III]
Marshall Township
Marshall Township, in the northwest portion of the county is bounded on the north by Buchanan County, on the east by Green Township, on the south by Weston Township and the Missouri River, and on the west by the Missouri River.
Among the early settlers of the township were John Bigham, A. J. Lovelady, James Lovelady and others ... (--p. 1086.)
May Township
May Township was formed from Carroll and Platte ... The township was named for Dr. May, a native of Kentucky, who came to Platte County and settled in what is now May Township at the head of Todd's Creek ... Among the early settlers of this township were Wm. Brown, Townsend Brown, James Brown ... Sashell Brown ... (--p. 872.)
Pettis Township
Pettis Township is bounded on the north by Carroll and May Townships, and on the east by May Township and Clay County, while on the west its principal boundary is Waldron Township, although the Platte River separates it from a small portion of Lee Township.
Among the early settlers of the township were David and Stephen English ... the Naylors, the Browns, etc. ... (--pp. 838, 839.)
Preston Township
It is bounded on the north by Buchanan County, on the east by Clay County, on the south by Carroll Township, and on the west by Green Township from which it is separated by the Platte River ...
Among the early settlers of this township were Thornton Guinn, ? Cook, ... Messrs Masterson, Lexton, Morgan, Hinton and others ... (--p. 894.)
Waldron Township
Waldron Township was taken from Pettis Township ... and is the smallest township in the county. It is bounded on the north and east by Pettis Township, and on the south and west by the Missouri River ...
Among the early settlers of this township were Abram Zobrosky, Geo. S. Park, Richard Babcosk and others ... (--p. 885.)
[IV]
Weston Township
Weston Township lies along the Missouri River. It is bounded on the north by Marshall, on the east by Green and Fair, on the south by Fair Township and the Missouri River, and on the west by the Missouri River ...
Among the early settlers of this township were John B. Wells, Daniel Durbin, Theodore F. Warner, and others ... (--pp. 1037, 1038.)
Page numbers refer to History of Platte County, 1885.
[V]
Early Towns of Platte County
Barry
Situated on the line between Platte and Clay Counties, Barry, as soon as this county was open for settlement, became virtually a Platte County town, and, in fact, the same year houses were built on this side of the county line. It was settled long before the Platte Purchase and ... was a trading post for the whites and Indians on either side of the line respectively ... (--pp. 561, 562.)
It is a part of Kansas City. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)
Farley
This place, located in the southeastern part of the county, was settled as early as 1837. Joseph Farley pre-empted and entered the land, which included the present site of the town, and, afterwards Farley was laid off as a town and platted ... It is located on the line between Sec. 28 & 29, in Twp. 52 N, R. 35 W. It is in Lee Township, about a mile northeast of the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railway, and a little more than a half mile west of the Platte River. (--p. 561.)
It is on Highway 45, south of East Leavenworth and north of Waldron. (--Map of Mo., 1974, Rand, McNally.)
Iatan
John Dougherty located the town of Iatan about the time of the first white settlement in the county. J. O. Abbott and others settled there and in that vicinity soon afterwards in 1837 ... (--p. 562.)
At one time it promised to be one of the most important places on the Missouri River, and was a large shipping point. The business of the town in general merchandise was done by A. G. Smith and J. A. Gittanger; the druggist was Dr. H. P. Grover. (--p. 1087.)
Iatan is located on Highway 45, south of Bean Lake and north of Weston. (--Map of Mo., 1974, Rand, McNally.)
Mail via Weston. (--Rand, McNally, 1974.)
New Market
See page 4 of this directory.
[VI]
Platte City
Formerly known as Martinsville, Platte City was first settled in 1828 ... Before even Martinsville had a name the site of the place was known as the Platte Falls, and Zodor Martin was licensed to keep the ferry on the river at this point, by the authorities at Ft. Leavenworth or Liberty. By the Legislature Platte Falls was named in the act providing for the organization of the county as "the temporary seat of justice of Platte County," and afterwards it was selected as the permanent county seat. Platte City was platted and registered by the county authorities in 1838, and was at that time given its present name ... (--p. 560.)
Rialto
Formerly situated on the Missouri River just below Weston, Rialto was once known as Pensen's Landing and is believed to have been the site of the first white settlement on the Missouri River above the old French fort, Ft. New Orleans. It was not platted as a town until 1840, when Henry Underhole had it divided into town lots and registered. Weston soon eclipsed it, however, and it failed to reach even a neighborhood importance as a trading point. There is no post-office there now (1885) and there has been none for year. (--p. 560.)
It is no longer listed.
Weston elevation 775 feet
Weston was at one time the commercial metropolis of all Western Missouri, and west to the Rocky Mountains. The land on which it stands was first selected for a town site in the fall of 1837, by Joseph Moore, an ex-soldier from Ft. Leavenworth. The first house erected was by Samuel Fugett. It is situated on the Missouri River in the contiguous corners of Secs. 11, 12, 13 and 14 of Twp. 53 N, R. 36 W in Weston Township. The plat of the town was registered and recorded in 1837.
Here, too, Ben Holladay conceived his daring scheme ... It was his enterprise in this direction that suggested and laid the plans for the "Pony Express," ... an enterprise that joined the Pacific slope in close relations with its sister States and Territories, and made practicable the building of the Pacific Railways ... (--pp. 561, 1041.)
Page numbers refer to Hist. of Platte Co., 1885.