THE HISTORY OF Pettis County, Missouri, INCLUDING AN AUTHENTIC HISTORY OF SEDALIA, OTHER TOWNS and TOWNSHIPS, TOGETHER WITH CUTS OF ELEGANT RESIDENCES; PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT CITIZENS; BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF MANY ENTERPRISING FARMERS, MERCHANTS, MECHANICS, PROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS MEN; A MAP OF THE COUNTY; A CON DENSED HISTORY OF THE STATE; THE STATE CONSTITUTION; AN ABSTRACT OF THE MOST IMPORTANT LAWS; THE NATURAL HIS TORY OF PETTIS COUNTY; ITS ORGANIZATION; ITS POLIT ICAL AND RELIGIOUS HISTORY; THE COURTS AND BAR; ING; WAR RECORD; TOWNSHIP HISTORIES; CHURCHES; SCHOOLS; RAILROADS AND BUSINESS ENTERPRISES; MISCEL LANEOUS MATTERS, ETC., ETC. ILLUSTRATED. 1882. PREFACE. After nearly a year from the beginning of the enterprise, with much labor and expense, the History of Pettis County is now ready for the public. Embracing the ear.y and more recent history of one of the most populous and wealthy Counties of Missouri, it is not be expected that a work of this magnitude could be compiled and issued without the expenditure of much time, labor and money. Most of the material comprising this volume was never before collected in any form; no pains or outlay having been spared to make it worthy of so noble a County and State, and it will ssuredly be a welcome guest in the intelligent families of Pettis County, and although its value is material and immediate yet posterity will more highly prize this book and rely upon it as the basis of all subsequent history. The task of the historians has been performed conscientiously, free from partiality and prejudice, and with a view of recording such facts as will be most valuable. To a great extent the history is what the people have been pleased to make it. If the people had furnished less information, there would have been less in the book, and if the information had been of a different character, its pages would also have reflected that fact. The style of composition has aimed at purity and precision, rather than periods and highly wrought figures. In some cases the same fact may appear more than once, and if a difference in detail is observed, it should be remembered as bearing the authority of the one who furnished it. The mechanical work shows skill and finish, comparing favorably with the best in this and other States. The map, electrotype views, lithograph and steel portraits, together with the typography, have all received that artistic touch which renders the work highly satisfactory to the publishers, and no doubt will meet the hearty approval of all patrons who are capable of judging. The volume has greatly exceeded the limits originally intended. In the prospectus it was promised that the book should contain from 700 to 900 pages, but it has been found impossible to comprise the material in less than 1,120 pages. The history of Sedalia has been written and prepared complete in itself, expressly for this volume, chiefly from the able pen of Mr. I. Mac D. Demuth, who has long lived amid the scenes he describes, and to whom, with two other prominent, well-informed citizens, the proof-sheets were all submitted for corrections. The history of the different townships has been collected and compiled |