Springfield-Greene
County LibraryCompiled by Arthur Paul Moser
Montgomery County
[1]
Americus
The village of Americus is on Dry Fork of Loutre, in Sec. 2, Twp. 46, Range 6 ... Henry P. Scharff had a house on the village site some years before the Civil War ...
In 1865 Ambrose Bush and W. F. Wilson built a steam mill here, and in 1866, James Talbot put up a storehouse and opened a stock of goods. Soon after a post-office was established called Dry Fork Mills, which was subsequently changed at the request of the city to Americus. The town was laid out by a Mr. Hines, surveyor, in 1869, and the same year came Joseph R. Dickey and opened the first blacksmith shop.
In 1884 Americus contained one dry goods store, one drug store, two blacksmith shops, a wagon shop and an excellent steam saw and grist mill. (--Montgomery Co., 756, 757.)
It is 12 miles south of Danville, and contained 3 stores, several shops and a mill. (--Campbell's Gazetteer of Mo., 1874, 386.)
It was named for a town in Georgia which name was formed from America. (--How Mo. Counties, Towns, and Streams Were Named, 4th article, Eaton, 332.)
It is situated on Sec. 2, Twp. 46 N, R. 6 W at the junction of P & K. (--General Highway Map of Montgomery Co., issued by The Missouri State Highway Department, 11-1-66. Unless otherwise noted all map locations are from this map.
Beersheba
Beersheba was situated on Sec. 7, Bear Creek Township. (--Map of Mo., 1894, Rand McNally.)
Bellflower
It is in the eastern part of the county near Lincoln County line. (--The State of Mo., in 1904, Williams.)
It is situated on Sec. 15, 16, 21 & 22 Twp. 49 N, R. 9 W on E south from DD.
It was named for the variety of apple of that name. (--Eaton, 332.)
Belleville
It was south of Price's Branch in Bear Creek Township. (--Evening in Wisconsin Edition Atlas, 1896, Rand McNally.)
Bethlehem
Bethlehem was located on Sec. 4, Loutre Township. (--Map of Mo., 1894, Rand McNally.)
[2]
Big Spring
The hamlet and post-office of Big Spring is located on the southeast corner of Sec. 28, Twp. 47, R. 5, a mile east of Loutre Creek, about 8 miles in a straight line, southeast of Danville. Where the old Cote Sans Dessein and St. Charles road crosses Loutre, there was a dam and old mill put up in 1846.
Originally, as noted elsewhere, the first post-office called Big Spring was at Jacob Groom's big spring, on the west side of Loutre, nearly three miles from the present site. The office was moved to the mill on Loutre, and then to the present location at the cross roads.
Big Spring contained Neidergerke's store, which had been here since before the Civil War, and also a dozen other houses. (--Montgomery Co., p. 158.)
It was a post-office 9 miles southeast of Danville. (--Campbell, p. 306.)
It is situated at the junction of 19 & K, north of N. Jacob Groom was postmaster in 1836. (--Montgomery Co., p. 585.)
The post-office was discontinued pre 1905. (--General Scheme of Mo., Taft, p. 71.)
Mail now via New Florence; population 30. (--Rand McNally Standard Ref. Guide of Mo., 1974.)
The spring itself was located on Sec. 32, Twp. 47, R. 5. (--Montgomery Co., p. 545.)
Bluffton
In about 1847 settlements were made on or near the present site of Bluffton, and a dozen little houses were strung out along the river road in 1846. John Hill and William Hill are said to have been the first settlers here. The village or hamlet was known as "Stringtown" for many years.
In 1866 the Bluffton wine company, Mr. Sam'l Miller at the head, took charge of the town, laid it out and sold some lots, and engaged extensively in grape growing ... (--Montgomery Co., p. 757.)
Bluffton is in the southwest part of the county, 2 miles north of Morrison (Gasconade Co.), situated on the northern bank of the Missouri River ... (--Campbell, p. 386.)
It is situated on Sec. 32, Twp. 46 N, R. 6 W on 94 near Callaway Co. line.
Mail is via Rhineland, rural; no population. (--Rand McNally, 1974.)
Bridgeport
John A. Hunter was postmaster in 1836. (--Montgomery Co., p. 585.)
Bridgeport is now in Warren County. (--Rand McNally, 1974.)
[3]
Buell
Buell is situated on Sec. 11, Twp. 49 N, R. 5 W on 161 south from CC.
It is a rural branch of Montgomery City post-office. (--Rand McNally, 1974.)
Charette Village
Charette Village, at the mouth of Charette Creek, contained 40 or 50 families, which were principally French. It was located in a bend of the Missouri; and opposite to it was a large island ... The distance from the place to St. Charles was about 40 miles. (--Montgomery Co., p. 575.)
Charette, a village founded by French settlers, on the Missouri River at the mouth of Charette Creek, not long after the establishment of Laclede's trading post at St. Louis. This was the first settlement of white men within the limits of what is now Warren County. The village existed for a number of years and a fort was constructed there for protection against the Indians. The encroachment of the Missouri River long since destroyed this early town. (--Ency. of the Hist. of Mo., 1901, Conard, Vol. 1, p. 564.)
Danville
Judge Olly Williams settled on the farm east of where Danville now is ... about 1820 ... In 1834, when the county seat was located at Danville, Conrad Carpenter owned the land comprising the eastern portion of town, and Henry Devault that including the eastern portion of town, and Henry Devault that including the western portion. Dr. Wm. Newland had built a house on the western border of town, on Devault's land. Carpenter and Devault donated the county seat land to the county. The town was named for Danville, Va.
Charles Drury, a merchant at Loutre Lick, removed to Danville in 1834 and opened the first store in a a log house in the eastern part of town. His daughter, Susan B. was the first white child born in the place ... The building of the North Missouri Railroad was the beginning of the impairment of the prosperity of the town, and this was followed by the Civil War, during which time the place was literally visited by fire and sword, and its best institutions and some of its best citizens butchered.
In 1867, when the court house was built, it seemed fair to presume that the location of the county seat was permanently secured; but it was not long until efforts were made to take the county seat to Montgomery City and to New Florence.
In 1885 the town contained but two general stores, one blacksmith shop, two hotels, a saloon, besides the county court house and some 35 or 40 residences. (--Montgomery Co., pp. 767, 768, 769, 780.)
Charles J. Drury was postmaster in 1836. (--Ibid: p. 585.)
[4]
Danville (Cont)
During the Civil War the old house was used for a courtroom, and the records were destroyed, and the town suffered from raids of Anderson's and other bands of guerillas, and several citizens were killed ... (--Conard, Vol. 2, p. 224; Campbell, p. 336.)
It is situated on Sec. 24, Twp. 48 N, R. 6 W at the junction of 70 & 161.
Mail is via Montgomery City; disincorporated since 1960. (--Rand McNally, 1974.)
Dry Fork Mills
See Americus.
Egbert
Egbert was located in the southwest corner of the county near Callaway County line, 5 miles north of Bluffton. (--The State of Mo., in 1904, Williams, p. 455.)
The post-office was discontinued pre 1905. (--Taft, p. 71.)
Flint Point
Flint Point was situated on Sec. 30, Twp. 49 N, R. 6 W in Montgomery Township. (--New Atlas of Mo., Map 22.)
Florence
See New Florence.
Florence Village is a part of St. Louis, on the west side of Garrison Avenue between Thomas Street and Case Ave. (--Conard, Vol. 2, p. 476.)
Florence is a village in Morgan County. (--Rand McNally, 1974.)
Fort Clemson
The site is now in Warren County. The exact location was on the south half of the southeast quarter of Sec. 30, Twp. 46, R. 4, although near the center of said Section 30 ...
Fort Clemson was built in February, 1813, by a company of mounted U. S. Soldiers, presumably dragoons, commanded by Capt. Clemson; previously mentioned as the builder of Fort Osage. The interior of the fort comprised an area of half an acre or more. The fort itself was in the form of a parallelogram. By order of Gen. Clark the fort was named Fort Clemson, in honor of Capt. Clemson, its builder and commander. (--Montgomery Co., p. 754.)
[5]
Gamma
Gamma is located in the northeast portion of the county, on R. F. D. from Bellflower. (--Williams, p. 455.)
It is situated on Sec. 27, 30, Twp. 49 N, R. 4 W at the junction of E & CC.
Mail is via Bellflower; no population. (--Rand McNally, 1974.)
Green Hill Jonesburgh P. O.
It was located in the southeast corner of the county, on Sec. 12, Twp. 47 N, R. 3 W, near Warren County line. (--New Atlas of Mo., Map. 22.)
It was located on 70 at the edge of Warren County line.
Green Hill is no longer listed; see Jonesburg.
High Hill
It is an incorporated village in Montgomery County, on the Wabash Railroad. It is located near the old site of Lewiston, the first county seat, and its successor. It had a public school, two churches, a flouring mill, two general stores and a few other business places. Population 1899 (estimated) 250. (--Conard, Vol., 3, p. 241; See, also, Campbell, p. 336.)
It is situated on Sec. 32, Twp. 48 N, R. 4 W on 70 west of F.
Population 1974, 192. (--Rand McNally, 1974.)
Hugo
Hugo was located in the south central portion of the county, 4 miles north of Big Spring. (--Williams, p. 455.)
Hugo is no longer listed in Montgomery Co.; there is a Hugo listed in Camden Co. (--Rand McNally, 1974.)
Jonesburg
It is located in the southeast corner of the county, near Warren County line. (--Williams, p. 455.)
It had three churches, a public school, 1 hotel, a newspaper, the "Journal," a flouring mill, five general stores and a number of other stores and shops. (--Conard, Vol. 3, p. 47.)
[6]
Jonesburg (Cont)
It is 9 miles east of New Florence ... and contained 10 stores, 1 wagon shop and 2 saddler's shops, 2 lumberyards, 2 saw mills, 1 box factory, 1 hotel and several other business houses ... Population (1874) about 650. (--Campbell, p. 336.)
It was laid out in 1858 and named in honor of James Jones, who was an early settler in the county and had a house in the center of the town until 1904. (--Eaton, p. 332.)
It is situated on Sec. 10, Twp. 47 N, R. 4 W on 70 on Warren County line.
Lead Creek
Lead Creek was located in the northeast corner of the county, east of Middletown. (--New Atlas of Mo., Map 22.)
Lewiston
It was named in honor of Col. Merriweather Lewis, of Lewis and Clark's expedition, and also the second Governor of the State of Tennessee. He committed suicide in Tennessee, in 1809. The land on which the town was situated was entered in 1818, by Amos Kibbe, who donated to the county a sufficient quantity of land on which to erect the public buildings.
The first terms of the county court, at Lewiston, were held at the house of Mr. Kibbe, but as soon as it could be done a court house and jail were erected, both of which were logs ... It is said that in the intervals between sessions of the courts, the court house was often used by Mr. Kibbe as a sheep stable. Care was always taken, however, to drive out the sheep and sweep the house clean before the commencement of each session of the courts ...The court room was only 16 feet square ...
Mr. Kibbe laid off and sold lots in Lewiston, and a small town soon came into existence. George Bart and Wm. Knox opened the first store, hauling their goods from St. Louis in an ox wagon. Bart & Knox did a flourishing business of the kind as long as they were in business, but not long after they began business they met with a serious misfortune, which ruined them financially, and they were forced to suspend. They had been to St. Louis ... and started home with a stock of goods in their wagon. When they drove on board a scow, used as a ferry at St. Charles, it sank and their team, wagon and goods were all lost. This misfortune left them without means to carry on their business and they suspended ...
Lewiston continued to be the capital of the county until after Warren County was struck off, in 1833, when the following year the county seat was removed to Danville. The town -- Lewiston -- was never a place of any considerable size or importance, and is now wholly extinct. Indeed there are disputes among those who know it once as to where it stood.
[7]
Lewiston (Cont)
Amos Kibbs was postmaster in 1836. (--Montgomery Co., pp. 576, 577, 585.)
It was a town founded in Montgomery County in 1825. It became the county seat of that county in 1826, and remained so until 1834 when the seat of justice was removed to Danville. All trace of the town of Lewiston (which was named in honor of Col. Merriweather Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark expedition) has long since disappeared. Lewiston was only a short distance west of the present town of High Hill, which is the historic successor of the old town ... (--Conard, Vol. 4, p. 40.)
There is a Lewistown in Lewis County. (--Rand McNally, 1974.)
Liege
Liege was the first station southeast of Bellflower. (--Map of Mo., 1925, Rand McNally.)
It was annexed to Bellflower in 1960. (--Rand McNally, 1974.)
Loutre Island
Loutre Island was on the Missouri River, and contained 2 stores and several shops. This was one of the oldest settlements in the county. (--Campbell, p. 336.)
J. H. Neale was postmaster in 1836. (--Montgomery Co., p. 585.)
Loutre Island, one of the early settlements in Missouri, west of St. Charles ... opposite Herrman (Gasconade Co.). It is not an island in the Missouri River, being a part of the main land inclosed between the Missouri River and the branches of Loutre River or Creek. It was settled in 1807 ... Its exposed position, forty-five miles from St. Louis, invited the depredations of the roving bands of Indians who made the region the scene of their operations. In the summer of 1810 one of the tribe of the Pottawattomies made an invasion into the settlement and carried off a number of horses. (Six men overtook the Indians at Bone Lick, a branch of the Salt River in what is now Ralls County.)
The Indians escaped, but returned at night and surprised the whites in the camp. Three of them were killed, two others escaped and one -- Samuel Cole, after a hard fight, and being severely wounded also escaped. (--Conard, Vol. 4, pp. 123, 124.)
Marling
It is located in the extreme northeast corner of the county near Pike County line. (--Williams, p. 455.)
[8]
Marling (Cont)
It is situated on Sec. 1, Twp. 50 N. R. 4 W on an unmarked county road north from T.
Mail is via Middleton -- rural; no population. (--Rand McNally, 1974.)
McKittrick elevation 515 feet
It is on the southern edge of the county on the M. K. & T. Railroad, near Warren County line. (--Williams, p. 455.)
It is situated on Sec. 34, Twp. 46 N, R. 5 W at the junction of 19 & 94.
It is a rural branch of Herrman, Gasconade Co. (--Rand McNally, 1974.)
Middletown
It is claimed that this village is now -- 1885 -- the oldest town in Montgomery County, coming into existence some time before Danville ... It stands on the southeast quarter of Sec. 1, Twp. 50, R. 5.
Charley Wells built the first cabin here in 1817 ... The first house built in the town was the cabin occupied by Stewart Slavens. Stewart Slavens died in 1866 ...
In 1855 James M. Baker was hotel keeper; James M. Crosthwaite and P. Huff had general stores; Dr. C. Pearson and F. S. Clare were physicians, and Volney Stewart ran the steam saw and grist mill ...
Middletown was incorporated as a town by the county court, February 17, 1864. The first board of trustees was composed of John Tully, James H. Huff, Walter Caldwell, A. D. Slack and W. D. Gooch ... (-Montgomery Co., pp. 682, 685, 686. See, also, Conard, Vol. 4, p. 276.)
It contained 15 stores, 1 hotel, 1 carriage manufactory, 2 saddlers, 2 harness makers, 2 cabinet makers, 1 wool carding machine, a number of shops, several churches and a high school.
Population about 800. (--Campbell, p. 336.)
It is situated on Sec. 1, 12, Twp. 50 N, R. 5 W at the junction of 161 & BB near Pike County line.
Mineola
The little village of Mineola occupies the site of the far famed Loutre Lick, of pioneer notoriety, and even of later-day prominence, whose name was mentioned in the United States Congress as early as 1824 by Henry Clay and Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun as the "Bethesda mentioned by the honorable Senator from Missouri," (Hon. Thos, H. Benton.)
[9]
Mineola (Cont)
The site of the town and considerable of the region round about -- 460 acres in all -- was originally granted by the Spanish Government when Missouri belonged to Spain, and before the treaty of Ildefonso, somewhere about 1800, to Col. Nathan Boone, son of Daniel Boone.
In the winter of 1812-13 Thomas Massey, Sr., of the settlement of St. Charles, rented the land about Loutre Lick of Col. Nathan Boone, came up and cleared off the land on the south side of the lick and little stream now called Sale's Branch, and built a cabin on the north side ... It was the next spring that Massey's boy, Harris, was killed by the Indians ...
Massey made no further attempt to live at the Loutre Lick after his family was driven away by the Indians. In 1815, Col. Boone sold the land to Maj. Isaac Van Bibber ... Col. Boone married a cousin of Isaac Van Bibber.
Major Van Bibber repaired the Massey cabin ... and also added one or two cabins to the collection and some stables. Here, also, the first elections were conducted after Missouri emerged from territorial conditions.
A store was opened at Loutre Lick by Charles Drury in about 1830 ... In 1834 Mr. Drury removed his store to Danville. It is said that other stores were here from time to time ...
The village of Mineola was laid out on the site of Loutre Lick in the year 1879 by H. E. Scanland, the owner of the land, and named for Mineola, Texas ... It was the intention of Mr. Scanland to make of it not only a trading post and mailing point, but a place of resort for invalids, who should come to drink of the medicinal spring and spend a season of recreation and rest ... The first house in the place was built by John R. Pate, in April, 1880 ...
In the summer of 1880 the spring or lick was improved by being cleaned out ... and was enclosed and a building erected over it. G. W. Taylor opened a stock of goods in the spring building soon after its completion. The post-office was established in the fall of 1880, and G. W. Taylor was the postmaster.
In 1884 the village contained 2 stores, a mill, a black smith shop, a wagon shop, a wine and beer saloon, and a dozen dwelling houses. (--Montgomery Co., pp. 777, 778, 779.)
It is situated on Sec. 34, Twp. 48 N, R. 6 W at the junction of J & N.
It is a rural branch of Montgomery City. (--Rand McNally, 1974.)
[10]
Montgomery City elevation 830 feet
In April, 1853, a Mr. Franklin, of Danville, went up to Palmyra, in Marion County to enter some land in this neighborhood. Mr. Benj. P. Curd, a citizen of that county ... was in the office at the same time. He believed the North Missouri Railroad, then already projected, would come along the watershed between the Mississippi and the Missouri from the mouth of the latter to the Iowa line, and learned from Mr. Curd there was some land in this quarter wild and uninhabited. He selected 160 acres in a square, and 80 acres to the westward ... and entered the same in his own name.
The Morris Bros. owned some land lying east of Curd's land. They endeavored to influence the railroad authorities to locate the town on their tract. However, the railroad company decided that whoever gave the most should have the town. Sealed proposals were made, and the town given to Curd, who gave the railroad company 10 acres south of the track and in the heart of town, besides right-of-way ...
Mr. Curd pursued a very liberal and generous course in the upbuilding of the town. He sold his lots at reasonable prices and indeed gave way a great many. In the spring of 1857 he gave to Thos. Stevens a prominent lot on the corner of Second and Allen Streets, north of the track and immediately fronting it ... and soon after Stevens began the erection of a store building, the first in the place. Prior to this, however, David Snethen and Abraham Grooms had built a little "grocery," or saloon on Second Street below Allen ...
Some time after Stevens had opened his store, came Daniel and John Bryan and opened a general store on Allen Street, between First and Sullivan ...
The first post-office was established in Montgomery City in 1867 with John Bryan as postmaster.
The town was not laid out with the cardinal points of the compass, but with the railroad tracks, and therefore the streets run from northeast to southwest and from southeast to northwest ...
The town was incorporated by act of the Legislature, approved February 9, 1857 as a town, and was still running under its original charter in 1885 ...
The first school attended by the children of the town was taught by the Misses Wheaton, two sisters from Connecticut ... half a mile east of town. The first school in town was taught by Eliza Robinson ... (--Montgomery Co., pp. 816, 817, 820.)
...It had a fine court-house, and while not a county seat, a number of the county offices were located there and sessions of courts were held there at regular intervals. (--Conard, Vol. 4, p. 463; also, Campbell, 336, 337.)
It is situated on Secs. 29, 30, 31, & 32, Twp. 49 N, R. 5 W at the junction of 19, 161 & B.
Montgomery City is the county seat. (--Mo. Manual, 1979, 1980, p. 1180.)
[11]
New Florence
The town of New Florence stands on Sec. 23, Twp. 48, R. 5, and is situated in the eastern part of Danville Township ...
New Florence was laid out in 1857 by Hon. E. A. Lewis. The land was formerly owned by Mortimer McIlhaney, but it was sold by him to Judge Lewis. At first it was called Florence, after the only daughter of Judge Lewis and was so platted and so recorded, but after a time it was discovered that there was a town of the same name in Morgan County, this State, and so by act of the Legislature in March, 1859, the name was changed to New Florence.
The first house in town was a dwelling built by James Wood, and stood in the western part of town. It was a small one-story frame. Mr. Woods' was the first family in town. The first storehouse was built opposite the depot in 1856.
The depot building was erected soon after Woods' house and Nathaniel Patton was the first station agent ... The post-office was established in 1857 and kept in a little confectionary run by Duncan Hughes.
Nathaniel Patton built the first hotel, opposite the depot about 1858 ... Sometime in 1866 a joint company built a frame building which was used as an academy ... The school was a very good one, but in time other schools were established, the attendance fell off, and in 1868 it was closed. In 1869-70, an effort was made to reopen it, but the school closed ...
In 1876 New Florence made a creditable effort to obtain the county seat of Montgomery County, but failed ... New Florence was incorporated as a town August 2, 1869, on the petition of Riley H. Mansfield and others. (--Montgomery Co., pp. 771, 772, 773, 774. See, also Conard, Vol. 4, p. 553; Campbell, p. 337.)
It is situated on Sec. 22, 23, Twp. 48 N, R. 5 W at the junction of 19 & WW north of 70 and east from Danville.
Peytona
Peytona was a post-office 7 miles west southwest of Montgomery City. (--Campbell, p. 337.)
Pinckney
The seat of justice of Montgomery County was first located at Pinckney, on the Missouri River, and within the present limits of Warren County. This town was named for Miss Attossa Pinckney Sharp, daughter of Maj. Benj. Sharp, the first clerk of the county and circuit clerk of Montgomery County. It was once a flourishing place, but the removal of the county seat to Lewiston proved the death blow, and the town disappeared many years ago (from 1889).
[12]
Pinckney (Cont)
The spot where it originally stood has fallen into the river, and a post-office in the vicinity, with perhaps one store, are the only reminders of its existence ...
The first public building erected in the place was a jail, which was built in 1820 at a cost of $2,500. During the remainder of the same year, Nathaniel Hart and George Edmonson built a frame house there which was the first frame house in Montgomery County. It was 25 by 30 feet in size, and was rented to the county for a court-house. The rent was paid with county scrip worth 25 cents to the $1. The same summer Frederick Griswald built a log house and opened the first store in Pinckney. The next house erected in the place was a mill, partly built by Hugh McDermit, who sold it to two Germans, Line Weaver and D. Duvil, who completed it.
"Beck's Gazetteer of Missouri" published in 1823, gives the following description of Pinckney in 1822, on page 209: -- Pinckney, a post town and the seat of justice of Montgomery Co., on the north bank of the Missouri River, about two and a half miles above the line dividing ranges 2 and 3, west of the 5th principal meridian, strikes said river. The site is low, and in some seasons of the year it is difficult to reach it, on account of the number of sloughs and ponds by which it is surrounded. It contains eight or nine houses and cabins. The county seat will probably remove to a more central and eligible situation. The town is in latitude 38 degrees 35' North; eight miles above Newport, and about 55 miles southwest of St. Charles. It is surrounded by a fertile district of country, watered by Lost and Charette Creeks ... (--Montgomery Co., pp. 558, 559.)
The orthography of the word is as Miss Sharp's name was spelled. Beck and some other early writers spell it without a c, thus: Pinkney. (--Ibid.)
Pinckney. A post-office in Warren County ... twelve miles south of Warrenton. It was the first town in the territory now Warren, after the passing away of the French town of Charette. It was settled in 1819, and was named after a daughter of Benjamin Sharp, Miss Attossa Pinckney Sharp. It was the first county seat of Montgomery, which then included what is now Warren Co.; it had upwards of 100 inhabitants. (--Conard, Vol. 5, p. 441.)
Pinnacle Lake
It probably was named for Pinnacle Rock (q. v.) in Sec. 18 and 24, Twp. 47 N, R. 5 W on Warren County line north from Y east of Big Spring.
[13]
Pinnacle Rock
It is an old land mark in Montgomery County, on south Bear Creek, in the form of a peculiarly shaped rock which rises to a height of about 100 feet, and covers about an acre of the area of a small valley. It appears to be a solid mass of stone. A winding path leads to its apex, where a broad, flat stone offers the climber a comfortable seat from which to view the surrounding country. The top of the rock is covered with moss and lichens. (--Conard, Vol. 5, pp. 191, 192.)
Prairie Fork
It was situated on Sec. 9, Twp. 47 N, R. 6 W in Danville Township. (--New Atlas of Mo., Map 22.)
Price's Branch
It was in the eastern part of the county near Warren County line. (--Williams, p. 455.)
It was in Bear Creek Township. (--New Atlas of Mo., Map 22.)
It was situated on Secs. 2, 3, Twp. 48 N, R. 4 W on JJ between E & F.
Prohibition
Prohibition was in the north central portion of the county on R. F. D. from Bellflower. (--Williams, p. 455.)
Rhineland elevation 820 feet
The village or hamlet of Rhineland is situated about two miles from the Missouri River, immediately under the bluff, in Sec. 30, Twp. 46, R. 5 ... About 1830 a number of Germans settled across on the south side of the Missouri River, in Gasconade Co. In about 1837 or '38 Gerhard Lensing crossed over to the Montgomery County side and settled near the river bottom south of where Rhineland now stands. Mr. Lensing was from Dusseldorf, Prussia ...
In 1853 Andrew Rincheval came and laid out the small village which he called Rhineland. He built a large double log storehouse and put up a horse mill. (--Montgomery Co., pp. 756, 757.)
[14]
Rhineland (Cont)
It had two churches, a good public school, a bank, hotel, flouring mill, canning factory, wagon factory, a newspaper, the "Sunbeam," three general stores, drug store, and about half a dozen other business places, including stores and shops. Population, 1899 (estimated) 225. (--Conard, Vol., 5, p. 34; See, also, Campbell, p. 337.)
It is on 94 between EE & P.
Starkenburg
It is in the southwest corner of the county, 3 1/2 miles north of Rhineland. (--Williams, p. 455.)
It was settled by Germans and named by them in memory of the place of their birth in the old country. (--Eaton, 4th Article, p. 322.)
It is situated on Sec. 23, Twp. 46 N, R. 5 W on P north of 94.
Mail is via Rhineland -- rural; no population. (--Rand McNally, 1974.)
Stockland
It was a post-office 12 miles northeast of Montgomery City. (--Campbell, p. 337.)
Stringtown
See Bluffton.
Wellsville Upper Loutre Township
The town of Wellsville was laid out by Hon. Carty Wells in the spring or summer of 1856 ... Judge Wells was the original owner of the site, and, having deeded to the railroad company five acres of land for depot and other purposes, the town was located thereon. The town was named for the founder.
The first buildings were put up in the summer or early fall of 1856. Jesse C. Clarkson built the first dwelling, which stood on lot 8, block 2 ... In the spring or summer of 1857 the first post-office was established, the first postmaster being Ben Sharp, who kept the office in his store.
The railroad came in 1861, and soon after the first depot was built. The first station agent was one Bunnsberry ... There was no telegraph office here until 1861, when it was put up by the military authorities, and a young man named York was the first operator ...
The first resident physician was Dr. S. T. Buck, who came in about 1868. The first resident lawyer was Dick Wells, son of Carty Wells, who came soon after the town was established ...
[15]
Wellsville (Cont)
The first public school building in Wellsville was built in 1866. It stood on Lot 1, Block 4, of the original town.
Wellsville was incorporated as a town by the county court, March 22, 1873, on petition of Wm. Bacon and others ... (--Montgomery Co., pp. 906, 907, 908, 909, 910.)
It is twelve miles from Danville and ninety miles from St. Louis. Near the town were coal mines ... It had a number of churches, a bank, two newspapers, the "Record," and the "Optic News," two lumber yards, two hotels, and about 50 other business houses, including well stocked stores and various kinds of shops. Population, 1899 (estimated) 1,600. (--Conard, Vol. 6, p. 439; see, also, Campbell, p. 337.)
It is situated on Secs. 26, 27, 28, 33, 34, 35, Twp. 50 N, R 6 W at the junction of 1, AA, Z & CC.
West Fork
James Ramsey was postmaster in 1836. (--Montgomery Co., p. 585.)
Exact location is unknown.