Springfield-Greene
County LibraryASPER
Asper was a post-office 13 miles south, southeast of Chillicothe.ASTORIA
CAMPBELL'S GAZETTEER OF MO., 1874, p. 326.It was situated at Sec. 27. Twp. 56 N, R. 23 W.
NEW ATLAS OF MO., 1874, Campbell, Map 18.This area is bordered by Highway 65 on the west.
GEN. HIGHWAY MAP 0F LIVINGSTON CO.. issued by The State High-way Dept. of MO., 12-1-62. Unless otherwise noted all map locations are from this map.It was not listed in GENERAL SCHEME OF MO., 1905, Taft, for the use of Railway Mail Clerks.
The first town regularly laid out and platted in Livingston County, after its organization, was called "Astoria." Its founder was Henry F. Mitchell, of St. Louis, who laid out the town in March, 1837. He recorded his plat on the 12th of April following, fifteen days before the plat of Astoria was filed, but some of the lots were sold April 3. Doubtless at the time Mr. Mitchell thought his town would one day become the metropolis of the Grand River Valley.AUSTINVILLEAstoria was located on the west bank of Grand River, half a mile below the mouth of Locust Creek (northwest quarter of Sec. 30, Twp. 56, Range 22). But whatever Mitchell's anticipation may have been, not a single house was ever built on the site of Astoria.
Boyd's Atlas sketch says that no houses were ever built at Astoria, but that in 1868, the site was changed to the mouth of Locust Creek, where a town was laid off and called Grandville." The latter statement is incorrect. Grandville owed nothing of its existence to Astoria, but had a separate and distinct origin.
LIVINGSTON CO., p. 908.There was an Astoria in Wright County.
HIST. OF WRIGHT COUNTY, 1889, Goodspeed, p. 423.
Austinville was located in Sec, 4, Twp. 56 N, R. 25 W, in Monroe Township.AVALON
NEW ATLAS OF MO., Map 18.
The little village of Avalon is situated on the southeast quarterof Sec. 14, about two miles east of the center of the main portion of Fairview Township. It was established by David Carpenter, November 12, 1869.[ Page 2 ]The town site (se. s. e. Sec. 14-56-23) was entered by a Wesley Scott, August 9, 1845. He came to the county before 1843. He built a house (log weather boarded) upon the elevation whereon the town now stands, and which long bore the name as Scott's Mound.
AVALON (Cont)
In 1880, J. D. Roberts, Noble & Davis and McMullin & Co. were general merchants; R. T. Miller, druggist and dealer in hardware and groceries; and S. H. Skinner, postmaster and dealer in notions.BEDFORD
LIVINGSTON CO., pp. 1222, 1223.It had four churches, a public school, and was the seat of Avalon College which was under the control of the Presbyterian denomination. It had a large flouring mill, a newspaper and about ten stores and shops in different trades. Population 1899 (estimated) 500.
ENCY. OF THE HIST. OF MO., 1901, Conard, Vol. 1, p. 91.Population in 1974 was 100.
STANDARD REF. GUIDE OF MO., 1974, Rand McNally.It was named for the town in France, which stands on an eminence as does its namesake. It is a Celtic word meaning "apple tree."
HOW MO. COUNTIES, TOWNS AND STREAMS WERE NAMED, 3rd Article, Eaton, p. 189.
The original site of the town of Bedford was first laid out and platted as "the town of Laborn," in 1857. According to the records, its location was on the n.e. quarter of Sec. 4, "a few rods below the shoals of Grand River." By whom the town was laid out can not now (1886) be stated.[ Page 3 ]The site was entered by a Wm. Le Barron, a Frenchman, of St. Louis, in 1838 and it is said that he laid off the town the same year. It is certain, from the records, that the town of that name was platted in 1839, and it may have been surveyed before.
Although Bedford occupies the former site of Laborn, and though the original plat contained the same number of streets and blocks, yet it seems that Le Barron caused a new survey to be made, and had the town newly platted as the records declare. The original plat of the "town of Bedford" is of the same size as the "town of Laborn." The origin of the name of the town is uncertain.
David G. Saunders was probably the second merchant. In1886 there were two stores, a steam saw mill, two tobacco factories, an implement store, two hotels and a chair factory.
LIVINGSTON CO., pp. 910, 911, 912.It is situated at Sec. 4, Twp. 56 N, R. 22 W.
NEW ATLAS OF MO, Map 18.It is located on Highway J at the Grand River.
It is thought Mr. LeBarron was interested in the steamer "Bedford," which was afterwards wrecked on the shoals at this site.
EATON, p. 181.Mail via Hale; population 30. RAND McNALLY, 1974.
BEDFORD STATION
Bedford Station on the Wabash Railroad, a little more than a mile north of the town of Bedford, was laid out in December, 1870, by D. G. Saunders and others. In 1877 a horse railway connecting the town with the station was established by Ed Austin and R. F. Davis, but it wa.s discontinued in 1882.BLUE MOUND POST OFFICE
LIVINGSTON COUNTY, p. 912.It has no population.
RAND McNALLY, 1974.
It is located in Sec. 34, Twp. 56 N, R. 24 W.BLUFF CITY
NEW ATLAS OF MO., Map 18.It was in the residence of Charles McAlear, and was thoroughly destroyed by the cyclone of 1883.
HIST. OF LIVINGSTON CO., p. 1189.Blue Mound (Mound Creek) is a post-office ten miles south, south east of Utica.
CAMPBELL, p. 326.It is located on Z north of the Carroll County line.
Mail via Dawn; population 45.
RAND McNALLY, 1974.
Bluff City was situated at Sec.8, Twp. 56 N, R. 25 W in Monroe Township.CAVENDISH
NEW ATLAS OF MO., Map 18.This area is west of Highway D near Caldwell County Line and northwest of Ludlow. (It is no longer listed.)
Cavendish was five miles northwest of Avalon.CHILLICOTHE
THE STATE OF MISSOURI, in 1904, Walter Williams, p. 433.
On the 7th of August, 1837, the county court then in session at Joseph Cox's, took the first steps toward laying out and establishing the town of Chillicothe. On this day, John Graves was appointed to lay off into lots the county seat. . .to be known and denominated by the name of Chilicothe. In the order the name was spelled with one ' l ', but Mr. Pearl, the county clerk, was not an expert at spelling. The town was naned for Chillicothe, Ohio, the county seat of Ross County. Chillicothe, Ohio, or as it was originally[ Page 4 ]
CHILLICOTHE (Cont)
spelled, Chil-li-co-a-thee--was laid out in in 1794, and named for an old Shawnee Indian town in the vicinity. The name is Shawnee, and signifies 'the big town where we live' or 'our big house'. It seems that the Shawnees or some of them, had a little town and a big town, and the latter was called Chillicoathee. This town existed as early as 1774.CHULA elevation 745 feetThe first sale of lots came off October 16 and 17, 1837. The lots were sold by the county from October, 1837. The town site belonged to the United States and was not entered until August, 1839.
Chillicothe was first incorporated by the county court August 13, 1839. The next incorporation was by the Legislature February 26, 1869, declaring the original charter and all subsequent amendatory acts thereto amended.
John Graves is called, and perhaps justly so, the founder of Chillicothe. The town was small and unimportant. Nothing but the fact that it was the county seat kept it alive for some years. Even Spring Hill was a place of more trade and importance at one time.
LIVINGSTON CO.,pp. 1047, 1048, 1051.It covers several sections in Townships 57 and 58 N, Ranges 23 and 24 West, at the junction of 36, 75, 170 & V.
Chula is in the northeast corner of the county, six miles south from Laredo, Grundy County.CISCO
WILLIAMS, p.433.It is situated at Secs. 15, 16, 21 & 22, Twp. 59 N, R. 23 W at the junction of U & K.
It was named from a Choctaw Indian word meaning "red fox."
EATON, p. 189.
Cisco was located in the northwest section of the county near Grundy County Line.COLLIERVILLE
WILLIAMS, p. 433. (It is no longer listed.)
It was situated at Sec. 31. Twp. 58 N, R. 22 W.COONVILLE See Grandville.
NEW ATLAS. OF MO., Map 18.This area is north of Wheeling. (No longer listed.)
[ Page 5 ]
COXVILLE Richhill Township
Over on Medicine Creek, at the site of Cox's Mill (e. half s.e. quarter Sec14), John Cox laid out a town, which he called Coxville. It was a town without houses, however, and has passed from the memory of nearly every old settler. Cox's Mill, better known as Slagle's Mill, from its owner Judge Joseph Slagle--was a noted institution in early days. One of the first mills in the county, it was resorted to for many miles by the early settlers of Linn, Sullivan, Grundy and Northern Livingston for a number of years. Mr. Cox had reason to consider the locality as promising for a town.CREAM RIDGE
LIVINGSTON CO.,p. 1175.The area is east of U on an unmarked county road.
Cream Ridge was a post-office nine miles north, northeast of Chillicothe.DAWN elevation 765 feet
CAMPBELL, p.433.
The origin of the town of Dawn was the old institution on Shoal Creek known as Whitney's Mill, which was built by Josiah Whitney in the year 1837. The first public bridge in the county was thrown across Shoal Creek at this point in the winter of 1841 and was built by Col. Sarshel Woods of Carroll County. Somebody had a store here in the 1840s, but the place was generally known as Whitney's Mill, until in March, 1853, when Wm. Hixon, the then owner of the site, laid out a town, which he called Dawn.DAWN STATIONThere was not much of a settlement here until after the close of the Civil War. Hugh Jones, a native of Wales came down from Iowa in 1867, and was afterward a prominent merchant.
In 1880 the leading business men were H. Bushnell, general merchant, W. A. Fisher, H. G. Barker and R. L. Patrick, druggists; Hugh Jones, postmaster and dealer in groceries1 etc.; W. T. Branch, tinner and stove dealer; and Michael Nailer, proprietor of the woolen and grist mill.
LIVINGSTON CO., 1191, 1192; CAMPBELL, p. 327.It is situated in the southwest section of the county at Sec. 18, Twp. 56 N, R. 24 W at the junction of C & FF.
It is situated at Sec. 6, Twp. 56 N, R. 24 W on the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad & Highway C.[ Page 6 ]It has no population.
RAND McNALLY, 1974.
DIDO
Dido was situated at Sec 27. Twp. 56 N, R. 23 W in Fairview Township.FARMERSVILLE
NEW ATLAS OF MO., Map 18.This area is bounded by Highway 65 on the west and is near Carroll County Line.
(In Roman legend, Dido was the founder and queen of Carthage. Of several versions of her story, the most famous in in Virgil's Aeneid, which tells how she loved Aeneas and how, when he had to leave her, she destroyed herself on her own funeral pyre.)
Any standard encyclopedia. (It is not known for certain that Dido was named for the above mentioned queen of Carthage, but it must be remembered that many towns in Missouri have been named for the goddesses and gods of Greek and Roman mythology.)
The hamlet of Farmersville stands on the county line but was laid out on the NE quarter of Sec. 1, Twp. 59, Range 24, wholly in this township (Cream Ridge.) It was laid off and platted in January, 1870, by Joseph King and others. J. E. Jaemson was the surveyor.FORT LUMPKINIn 1880 it had Christian and Methodist Churches, two general atores, one kept by Wm. R. Price, also proprietor of a mill on Fox Creek east of the town; Helf Brothers were the proprietor of the other one. Fred W. Helf was postmaster. Also, there were two wagon, blacksmith and repair shops.
LIVINGSTON CO., p. 941; CAMPBELL, p. 327.It is situated at Sec. 1, Twp. 59 N, R. 24 W on Highway 65.
Mail via Trenton.
RAND McNALLY, 1974.
See Spring Hill.EMERSONVILLE
Emersonville was situated at Sec .2O, Twp. 59 N, R. 22 W near Linn County Line in the northeast corner of the county.GORDONSVILLEErnersonville no longer is listed in Livingston Co; Emerson is listed in Marion County.
RAND McNALLY, 1974.
The hamlet and post-office of Gordonsville was on the line between Sections 3 & 31, in the southern part of Medicine Township. It was the only semblance of a village even.[ Page 7 ]
LIVINGST0N CO., p. 928.It was 13 miles northeast of Chillicothe.
CAMPBELL, p. 327.It is not listed in Livingston Co.; Gordonville is listed in Cape Girardeau County.
RAND McNALLY, 1974.
GENOVA
GRAHAM MILL
Genova was located in the northwest section of the county on R.F.D. from Spring Hill.
WILLIAMS, p.433.It is not listed in GENERAL SCHEME, nor is it listed in Livingston Co; Genova is listed in Dunklin County.
RAND McNALLY, 1974.
Graham Mill was located at Sec. 21, Twp. 59 N, R. 24 W at the junction of Y & 170.GRANDVILLE "COONVILLE"Graham Mill is not listed in Livingston Co.; Graham is listed in Nodaway Co.
RAND McNALLY, 1974.
The town of Grandville was established about the year 1840; it was never regularly laid out and platted. Its site was near the mouth of Locust Creek.GRASSY CREEKMr. John Jacobs came to this township in 1842, and the little village was then in existence. He recalled that during its existence Grandville (or "Coonville", as it was often called) had two stores, one by Smith & Fielding and one by Hurd. At one time there I was a tobacco factory, owned and operated by Fielding & Holtzclay. There was a dramshop run by two brothers named Parkinson.
The downfall of Grandville was occasioned by its unhealthy location. Sorne of its citizens died. In 1849 there were two cases of cholera in the neighborhood.
LIVINGSTON CO., p. 909.Grandville is not listed in Livingston Co.; Granville is listed in Monroe Co.
RAND McNALLY, 1974.
Grassy Creek was a post-office. It is mentioned on page 950 of HIST. OF LIVINGSTON CO.[ Page 8 ]It was located at Sec. 19, Twp. 59 N, R. 23 W in Crearn Ridge Township.
NEW ATLAS OF MO., Map 18.This section is bounded on the south by Highway Y and on the west by W.
Grassy Creek is not listed in Livingston Co; Grassy is in Bollinger Co.
RAND McNALLY, 1974.
HARMONY
Harmony was located between Muddy Creek and Linn County Line.HAZELHURST
WILLIAMS, p. 433.It is not listed in GENERAL SCHEME, nor is it listed in Livingston County. Harmony is listed in Saline County.
RAND McNALLY, 1974.
Hazelhurst was located in Section 10, Cream Ridge Township.JAMESTOWN
MAP OF MO., 1884, Rand McNally.It is no longer listed in Livingston County.
On the 12th of August, 1836, three speculators. David S. Lamme, Caleb S. Stone and David M. Wickman, residents of Boone County. entered 160 acres of land on the north side of Grand River (SW quarter of Section 21-57-23) about four miles southeast of Chillicothe. On the 24th of November following they laid out a town on about 25 acres of the tract, which they called Jamestown, but which was afterward known as "Jimtown." This was before the organization of Livingston, and the plat is on file in the recorder's office of Carroll County.JIMTOWNThe founders of "Jimtown" contemplated that upon the organization of the county, their town would be selected as the county seat. It was centrally located, was a river town, and had every convenience for shipping when steamboat navigation should begin.
A few lots were sold in Jamestown, and a store built in early days. But with the upbuilding of Chillicothe its hopes were blasted. Occasionally there would be brief seasons; then it seemed the town would be "taking a new start," as new houses were built. But in time, "Jimtown" settled back to something like its normal or primitive condition. It will always, nevertheless, possess the distinction of the first regularly laid out town in what is now Livingston County, but was then Northern Carroll County.
LIVINGSTON CO., p. 1044.There is a Jamestown in Moniteau Co.
RAND McNALLY, 1974.
See Jamestown.KNAVES TOWN
See Spring Hill.LABORN
See Bedford.[ Page 9 ]
LEOPOLIS
Leopolis was in the northeast section of the county.LIVINGSTON
WILLIAMS, p. 433. (It is no longer listed.)
Livingston was situated at Sec. 8, Twp. 54 N, R. 25 W south of Muddy Lake--Jackson Township.LUDLOW elevation 737 feet
NEW ATLAS OF MO., Map 18.This area is near Davies and Grundy County Lines.
Livingston no longer is listed in Livingston Co.; there is a Livingston in Henry County.
RAND McNALLY, 1974.
Ludlow is located in the southwest corner of the county, seven and one-half miles northeast of Caldwell County line.McCROSKIES
WILLIAMS, p. 433.It is situated at Sec. 15. 16, 21 & 22, Twp. 56 N, R. 25 W at the junction of D & DD. Has own post-office.
See Utica.MOORESVILLE elevation 920 feet
The town of Mooresville was laid out by W. B. Moore, April 25, 1860. The plat was surveyed by D. R. Martin, then the county surveyor. Mr. Moore located on the site in 1844. There was then a cabin, which had been built by Capt. Nehemiah Comstock some time previously and Mr. Moore lived in the cabin for a period.On what is now the town plat the first house was a log building, which stood on Lot No. 1, Block 4 and was erected in 1844. To this house he brought a stock of goods and here he kept a small store until the following year when he sold out and went to California.
The post-office was established in 1860, and S. A. Brock was the first postmaster. In 1880 the business men of the village were C. Fink & Co., general merchants; J. T. Hunter, stoves and tinware; J. P. Albaugh, groceries; J. G. Woodlam, furniture; T. R. Holding and J. Hoover, blacksmiths; Joseph Owens, shoemaker, and three hotels.
Mooresville was incorporated as a town, by the county court, April 20, 1874.
LIVINGSTON CO.,pp. 965, 966; CONARD, Vol. 4, p. 477.It is situated at Secs. 16, 17, & 21, Twp. 57 N, R. 25 W near Caldwell County Line, near the junction of D & 36.
[ Page 10 ]
MOUND CREEK
See Blue Mound.MOUND CITY
See Blue Mound.MUDDY LANE POST CFFICE
Muddy Lane Post Office was situated at Sec. 15, Twp. 59 N, Range 25 W, in Jackson Township.NAVES TOWN
HIST. OF LIVInGSTON CO., p. 1001.It was located sixteen miles northwest of Chillicothe.
CAMPBELL, p. 327.Highway A runs along the south side of this section.
See Spring Hill.NORY
Nory was five miles southeast of Chillicothe.SAMPSEL
WILLIAMS, p. 433.
The town of Sampsel was laid out in July, 1871, on the land of John C. and Elizabeth Whittaker and others. It was named for J. B. Sampsel, who was prominently connected with the old Chillicothe and Omaha Railroad Company. The building of the road caused tha laying out of the tcwn. The depot was built in 1871, sinceSCOTT'S MOUND
which time the station has made but little further progress.
LIVINGSTON CO., p. 1002.It is nine miles west of Chillicothe, and contained one store.
CAMPBELL, 1874, p. 327.It is situated at Sec. 28, Twp. 58 N, R. 25 W on N west of 0.
Mail via Chillicothe.
See Avalon.SHEARWOOD
It is located in the northwest corner of the county near Grundy County Line, at Sec. 5, Twp. 59 N, R 25 W on Highway A.[ Page 11 ]Mail via Jamesport--rural; no population shown.
RAND McNALLY, 1974.
SHOAL CREEK
Shoal Creek was a post-office nine miles south of Chillicothe.SLAGLE'S MILL
CAMPBELL, p. 326. (It is no longer listed.)There is a Shoal Creek Drive in Newton Co.
RAND McNALLY, 1974.
See Coxville.SILVERLEAFThere is a Slagle in Polk County.
RAND McNALLY, 1974.
Silverleaf was on R. F. D. north from Chillicothe.SPRING HILL Jackson Township
WILLIAMS, p. 433.
Jesse Nave is considered the founder of Spring Hill. He settled here and in 1836 opened a small store. Not long afterwards a post-office was established and called Navestown, by which name the locality was long known. Sometimes parties addressed their letters to "Knaves Town," and the misspelling, with the unpleasant suggestion, would anger Unle Jess, who was postmaster. It is said that these annoying mistakes were so frequent as to cause him to petition the Department for a change in names to Spring Hill. The hill onSTURGES
which the town is situated had a number of springs at its base, and was called "the spring hill" at a very early date.Spring Hill was regularly laid out and named in April, 1848, "on the northeast quarter of Sec. 6, Twp. 58, Range 24." The plat is at an angle from a north and south line of 38 degrees. Before this, however, there had been stores and shops, and a horse-mill.
During the Civil War in 1863, Capt. Burne's company of Militia was stationed here and built a sort of block house and stockade combined which they called "Fort Lumpkin."
LIVINGSTON CO., p. 1000.It is situated at Sec. 31, Twp. 59 N, R. 25 W and Sec. 6, Twp. 58 N and Sec. 1, Twp. 58 N, R. 25 W on Highway A north from 190.
Mail via Chillicothe; population 35.
RAND McNALLY, 1974.
Sturges is situated at Sec. 32 & 33, Twp. 59 N, R. 23 W and Sec. 4, Twp. 58 N, R. 23 W on B west of V.[ Page 12 ]Mail via Chillicothe; no population is shown.
RAND McNALLY, 1974.
UTICA elevation 748 feet
The land on which the town of Utica stands was entered by Matson and Van Zandt, in October, 1836, but to Robert Matson is justly given the distinction of founder of the town. In the spring of that year he came to this county from Utica, New York. At first he opened a store at McCroskies two miles west, but in the fall of 1836, or early in the following spring, he came to the town site and occupied a small building which stood, probably on Block 73. One statement is to the effect that John Austin built this houseIn the summer of 1838 Mr. John Stone built a small frame dwelling house near the railroad depot. Although this house was outside the original town, yet it was pracitcally a part thereof.
The first railroad depot was built a mile west of town. John Stone had given the railroad company forty acres of land in that locality and the railroad corporation placed the depot where it would do "the most good"--for the company! The citizens were greatly displeased. They remonstrated, then became indignant, and at last, violent. They fell to "soaping" the track, and one night the depot was burned. The depot was rebuilt at the present locality, but it was not entirely satisfactory.
LIVINGSTON CO., pp. 888, 889.It is situated at Sec. 17 & 20, Twp. 57 N, R. 24 W at the junction of 36 &C.
See also CONARD, Vol. 6, p, 276.
WHEELING
The town of Wheeling stands on the east side of Sec. 5, Twp. 57, R. 27, one mile from the Linn County Line. It was laid out October 7, 1865, by Henry Nay, and by him named for Wheeling, West Virginia. The first house was completed by Mr, Nay in May, 1866. The town was not regularly platted till June1,1866.WHITNEY'S MILLThe first preacher in the town was Rev. Burr, a "Northern" Methodist, who held the first service in Mr. Nay's house. In 1866 the first depot was built and a station established. The first physician to locate in the village was Dr. James Gish, who came in 1868. A Mr. Nash was the first blacksmith.
LIVINGSTON CO.,pp. 861, 862.; CONARD, Vol. 6, p. 455.It is situated at Sec. 5, 8, Twp. 57 N, R. 22 W on 36 near Linn County Line.
Whitney's Mill was on Shoal Creek (where Dawn now is)--1886.
LIVINGSTON CO., p. 146.