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The
village of St. Michaels, of which Fredericktown
is the successor, was established about 1802 by
several
French families that had received grants of land
in the vicinity. It consisted of a little
cluster of
log houses, some twelve or fifteen in number, and
a store kept by Charles G. Goin.
When, in
June 1814,
the Saline and Castor Creeks overflowed their banks,
an drove the inhabitants out, some of the
families refused to return, and established what
was known as the new village, one and one-half miles
north of St. Michaels, where in 1820 a church was
built.
In 1819 Fredericktown was laid off
on
the Saline, opposite St. Michaels, on land owned
by Nathaniel Cook, by Theodore F. Tong, John
Burdett, Joseph Bennett and Herry Whitener, commissioners
appointed for that purpose. It was named
in honor of George Frederick Bollinger, of Cape
Girardeau County.
The first stores were
opened
by S. A. Guignon, S. B. Pratte, and Moses and Caleb
Cox. The former occupied a house just
below where Dr. Nifong's office now is, and the
latter house standing on the site of W. L. Cohen's
residence.
Zenas Smith, Henry Janis & Co. and John
B. Bossier were merchants there at a little later
date.
A hotel was opened by Moses Baird, where Judge
Allen now lives.
In 1827 the town was
incorporated
with Moses Cox, Thomas Mosely, Jr., Zenas Smith,
Moses Baird and S. A. Guignon as
the first board of trustees. The town grew
slowly, but did not change very much until after
the completion
of the railroad.. In a list of the business
men of the "fifties" are found S. A. Guignon,
Gregoire
& Leclere, William Cox, George Janis, T. S.
Nifong, H. N. Tong and Henry Wernecke.
In
1847 a newspaper called the Expial was established
by James Lindsay, and is said to have been the
first Free Soil paper in the state. It was
published but a short time.
About 1855 W.
H. Booth began
the publication of the Fredericktown Journal, which
he continued until September, 1861.
In
1866 the Conservative was established by S. Henry
Smith. He sold the office to Charles E. Barroll,
who
published the Bee about two years. It was
then purchased by E. P. Caruthers, and in 1875 was
merged
into the Plain Dealer, which was established by
William Gosner in 1874.
In 1876 W. J. Collier
became
the editor and proprietor, and continued the publication
until 1882, when it passed in the hands of
the present owner, O. K. Clardy. The Fredericktown
Standard was established by E. D. Anthony
in
December, 1887. The Jeffersonian, edited by
H. M. Williams, the Farmer and Miner, by C. W.Dunifer,
and the Clarion, by Perry D. Martin, have each had
a brief existence at Fredericktown. A paper
called the Advertiser was published at Mine La Motte
for a few months in 1877.
During
the past ten years Fredericktown has made
great progress, both in the number of inhabitants
and
the character of its buildings. It now covers,
not only the original site of Fredericktown, but
that of
the old village of St. Micheals and all the intervening
ground. The following is a business directory
of
the town:
General
Merchandise
A.
& W. Pierce
J.
& V. Schlessinger
John
E. Clardy
Crow
& Buford Bros.
W.
L. Cohen
Drugs
Dr.
L. J. Villars
H.
Christoph
Hardware
L.
Riggs & Co.
C.
Bengert
Groceries
Menteer
Bros.
Henry
Jones
James
G. Donnell
Harness
H.
W. Schwerner
James
McKinney
Undertakers
R.
Brooks
E.
H. Day
Marble
Works
L.
M. Hebner
Wagon
and Blacksmith Shop
T.
N. Horne
Liberty
Roller Mills
M.
De Guire & Co.
Source: History of Southeast Missouri 1888
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