CLINTON COUNTY. This county is situated in the northwestern part of the State, bounded on the west by Buchanan and Platte, which separate it from the Missouri River-the western State line. Population in 1850, 3786; and in 1860, 7853. Physical Features. Probably two-thirds of the area of this county is undulating prairie land, fertile and easily tilled; the remaining onethird is timber land, confined principally to the water-courses and valleys. Blue and gray limestone and sandstone are abundant in some portions of the county, and there are indications of coal in several locations, but no thorough investigations have been made, as fuel is yet plenty. Several of the streams are rapid and have unimproved mill-seats upon them. Except in the larger prairies, springs are quite numerous. Soil and Productions.-The soil is fertile, and will produce any kind of grass, grain, fruit, or vegetables grown in this latitude. An average crop is about as follows: Hemp, 800 pounds to the acre; tobacco, same; corn, 100 to 125 bushels; wheat, 25 to 30; rye, same; barley and oats, each 40 bushels; timothy and clover, about 2 tons. Hungarian grass has not given satisfaction here, owing probably to unfavorable seasons since its introduction. The farmers are going largely into fruit culture, and are introducing every variety of fruit grown in this climate. This county is well adapted to stock raising, having an abundance of native and cultivated grasses and stock water. Unimproved lands are worth from $8 to $10 per acre, and improved from $15 to $25. Churches and Schools.-There are sixteen church organizations in the county: 2 N. S. Presbyterian, 5 Methodist, 5 Baptist, 5 Reformed Churches. Of other denominations we have no particulars. Of schools, there are 41 common school districts, in which schools are supported by the public fund a portion of the year. The amount raised to build and repair school-houses in 1857, was $2826. The amount of school money apportioned to this county for 1859, is $1711 89. There is one college established at the county-seat, under the auspices of the M. E. Church South. Industrial Pursuits.-There are in the county 9 hotels, 1 newspaper, 6 lawyers, 9 physicians, 13 merchants, 4 druggists, 2 silversmiths, 2 tinners, 9 blacksmiths, 6 wagon-makers, 3 saddlers, 3 tailors, 2 shoemakers, 2 cabinetmakers, 12 carpenters, 2 coopers, 7 steam saw-mills, 2 horse-power mills, 3 steam flouring-mills, 3 steam gristmills. Clinton County was first settled when a part of Clay County, by pioneers from Clay and adjoining counties, but originally from Kentucky. Of professional men, (save ministers of the gospel and teachers,) there is here, as in most counties of the State, a full supply; but honest, industrious farmers and mechanics will here find a healthy climate, good soil, and a good market for all kinds of articles they can produce. PLATTSBURG, the county-seat, contains about 1200 population; Haynesville, about 500; Cameron (a brisk new town on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad) has about 300 inhabitants, and is growing rapidly. The distance from Cameron to Hannibal is 171 miles, and to St. Joseph, 35 miles. COLE COUNTY. This county is situated near the center of the State, is bounded on the northeast by the Missouri River, on the west by Moniteau, on the south by Miller County, and on the southeast by the Osage River, which enters the Missouri at the eastern extremity of the county. Population in 1860, 9714. Physical Features.-The face of the county is generally rolling or broken, with thin soil, generally well adapted to the growth of small grain and fruit of all kinds. On the bottoms of the Missouri, Osage, and Moreau, is good alluvial soil, very fertile, embracing, perhaps, one-fourth the area of the county. The soil and climate are favorable to fruit culture; the peaches seldom fail, and all kinds of fruits, including the grape, yield abundantly. The interior of the county is drained by Moreau Creek, which rises so rapidly and to such a height, that it is upon some maps called a river. Fish are numerous in this stream; and it is related by a former representative from this county who had a mill upon the Moreau, that the fish were so numerous as to frequently clog the wheels and stop the mill. Then the only alternative was to shut the gate, and beat the water with poles, and drive them away! Building Materials. The beautiful limestone, called "Cotton rock," of which the Capitol is constructed, is very abundant in this county, and forms a stratum of upwards of forty feet in thickness, in the bluffs upon which Jefferson City is situated. Sandstone suitable for building; clays and sands for brick are also abundant and convenient. Limestone suitable for making hydraulic cement is found in the bluffs above the city. Lumber of every kind is found on the bluffs and valleys in Cole County, or in the Missouri bottoms above and below the city. 66 History. Cole County was formed from Cooper, November 16, 1820, and named in honor of Captain Stephen Cole, the intrepid and courageous pioneer. There were settlements within the present limits of the county as early as 1816, but white families were few and far between" until after 1820. In 1821 the population of the county was about 1300. The county-seat was located at Marion, (fourteen miles above Jefferson,) in 1822, and removed to Jefferson City, in 1828. The first settlers were from Kentucky and Tennessee. The seat of government of the State was removed from St. Louis to St. Charles in 1821, and from thence to Jefferson City in 1826, where it is permanently located. At the time of the admission of this State into the Union, Congress granted four sections of land for the location of the seat of government. The constitution fixed the location of the capital upon the Missouri River, to be within forty miles above or below the mouth of the Osage. At the first session of the Legislature, commissioners were appointed, who, after a tedious examination, selected four sections, where Jefferson City has since been built up. Major Elias Barcroft was appointed Surveyor, who laid the ground selected off into lots, under the superintendence of the commissioners in 1822. The first sale of lots took place in May, 1823, under the supervision of Major Josiah Ramsey, Jr., Captain J. C. Gordon, and Adam Hope, Esq., Trustees on the part of the State. At the same time the building of a brick State-house was let to the lowest bidder, Daniel Colgan, and afterward transferred to James Dunnica, of Kentucky, who built the Capitol at the bid, $25,000. At this time (1823) there were but two families residing in the place, to wit, Major Josiah Ramsey, Jr., and Wm. Jones, both of whom kept houses of entertainment. The State-house was completed at the stipulated time, and the Legislature assembled in the new State Capitol (just completed) on the third Monday in November, 1826. Up to this date, all the families that resided at the seat of government were as follows: Wm. Jones, brickmason, and keeper of entertainment; Josiah Ramsey, Jr., postmaster, and tavern keeper; John C. Gordon, carpenter, and keeper of entertain |