Old French Village Transformed
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. An Old French Village Transformed in Recent Years Into A Live American City Staff Correspondence of the Republic For Nearly Two Hundred Years Its Rich Veins Have Furnished Large Quantities of Lead, Etc
Fredericktown, Missouri, February 10, 1894 -- Madison County, in Southeast Missouri, lies between St. Francois and Wayne Counties, on the north an south and on the east and west was originally a portion of territory which composes Ste. Genevieve and Cape Girardeau Counties, and was formed in December, 1818.
The first settlement was made at Mine La Motte, situated four miles north of Fredericktown, in 1719, by a Frenchman, whose name the mines bear. La Motte was one of those early explorers seeking for gold and silver, and on one of these excursions with some of his fellow countrymen discovered the lead mines in the northern part of this county.
Of this mine Moses Austin wrote in 1804 as follows:
“Mine La Motte was discovered b y Mr. Renault about the year 1723 or 1724, who made an exploration, but finding no silver ore, abandoned it. About the year 1725 a man by the name of La Motte opened and wrought the mine, after whom it was called.” A few years prior to the ceding of the Louisiana Territory to the United States by France the Spanish Government made land grants to 15 French families in what is now Madison County, for settlement and cultivation. About the same time families from Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia settled here.
In 1801 the village of St. Michael was build in the bottom of the north side of Saline Creek, opposite the spot where Fredericktown now stands. In 1811 St. Michael was almost totally destroyed by floods, and the inhabitants gradually settled on the hills south of the creek.
The new settlement they called Fredericktown in honor of George Frederick Bollinger of Cape Girardeau County.
While the mining industry is only one of many important features, Madison County is distinctly a mineral section. It will be seen from the early history of this territory, even before the discovery of the famous Mine -- Burton, in Washington County, which for a considerable time depreciated its importance. Mine La Motte has been worked, and from present indications with growing success each year. So for nearly 200 years this mine has been supplying its quota of lead to the world. A statement, showing average shipments per year from Mine La Motte for the past several years, furnished by the Iron Mountain agent for that point is as follows:
Lead and copper can be found in many places in the county. Iron exists in great abundance, mostly of the brown hermatite quality. The iron mines have been worked to some extent but at pr3sent, as on iron Mountain and other iron districts in the state, nothing is being done. There are three copper mines in the county and ore taken from them has been smelted and proven to be of excellent quality. These mines have not been worked extensively on account of the great quantity of water and lack of capital. There are several silver mines in Madison County which have been worked to some extend and seem to have bright prospects. The main trouble seems to be that the parties interested haven’t the requisite capital to develop them. According to the testimony of eminent and practical chemists, gold and platinum exist near Fredericktown.
About 10 miles southeast of Fredericktown exist vas quantities of red marble, and on Marble Creek, 22 miles away, are inexhaustible beds of white marble. This marble is capable of taking a beautiful polish, and is said by those who know, to be of excellent quality. Throughout the county are numerous quarries of sandstone, limestone and granite of first grade. The granite is of the black and gray varieties, and takes a fine polish.
Every street and alley in Fredericktown and many miles of county road are well graveled from these quarries. The walks around Union Station in St. Louis are made from the granitoid from Madison County‘s quarries. Beds of kaolin and fine clay, suitable for hard brick and pottery, also exist in the county.
Vast Areas of Timber Lands the Lumberman’s Ax Has Not Yet Touched
Madison County is possessed of a vast area of timber lands comprising and endless variety of growth—the principal varieties are black and white walnut, black and sweet gum, the various kinds of oak, hard and soft maple, hickory and pine. The timber alone on these lands is worth the price at which the land can be purchased.
Numbers of raw mills are doing a profitable business throughout the county , but the lumber resources have scarcely been touched.
While the features mentioned are important, the principal resources of the county are agricultural, fruit growing and stock raising Madison County is generally considered and recognized as a mining county, many families live at the various mines who are wholly dependent upon the farmers for their breadstuffs, meat and vegetables; thousands of tons of surplus agricultural products and live stock are shipped to the various markets outside of the county annually.
The following statement showing the amount of these and other shipments is quoted from the Labor Commissioners reports for 1894.
Cattle, 3,177 head horses and mules, 40 hogs, 1,935 sheep, 1700 mixed live stock, 26 cars grain, 1,280 bushels flour, 32,400 barrels shipstuffs, 80,000 pounds seed, 212 bushels beeswax, 150 pounds game 9,000 pounds eggs, 84,000 dozen poultry, 206,679 pounds feathers, 2,080 pounds lumber, 4,040,000 feet
The principal products are corn,
wheat, oats and rye. Tobacco grows as
well here as in Tennessee or
Small fruits of every kind flourish here and produce in great abundance. Apples do splendidly, and the peach and pear grow in luscious beauty side by side. The rugged parts of the county are exactly similar to other counties in the state, which the Germans have made so valuable in growing grapes. There is no section of Missouri more admirable adapted to the culture of grapes than the hill sides of Madison County. Around among the hills and woodlands can be see, during the fall season, clusters of wild grapes in every direction.
The hills and rugged sections of the county make splendid grazing grounds for cattle in winter as well as summer, the winters not being severe enough to entirely kill vegetation.
An industry which is being more extensively and profitably entered into now than ever before is that of sheep raising. Many thousands of sheep might be sustained on the cheap lands that have heretofore been idle.
Madison County is well watered and drained by the Castor and St. Francios Rivers, and their tributaries. The Castor rises in the northeast part of the county and flows southward, while the St. Francios runs through the entire western section. The county has simple railroad facilities, being generated by the Iron Mountain Road which passes through the eastern portion for a distance of 23 miles.
A survey has been made by the Mississippi River and Ronne Terre Railroad Company from Hoe Run the present terminus, down the St. Francois River and through the best timber lands to the marble quarries in this county, a distance of about 30 miles. Eight miles of this extension has been completed. It is intended to eventually extend this line on to Memphis, Tennessee. A movement is now being entertained to extend the Williamsville, Greenville and St. Louis Road, which now runs between Williamsville and Greenville, northeastward through the southeastern part of Madison County, crossing the Iron Mountain at Marquard, to some point on the Mississippi River.
Many parts of the County have an elevation of 700 feet about the seal level. This section occupies an intermediate point between the malarial regions and the higher altitudes further north. These facts not only insure freedom from malaria for natives of this section, but are a guarantee of immunity from fevers for those coming from either extreme.
Everything taken into consideration a more desirable place of settlement count not be found by the emigrant or the capitalist.
The prices of land vary according to location and desirability.
Unimproved lands ranging in price from $1.25 to $5 per acre Improved lands from $10 to $50 per acre. The total area of this county is 295,550 acres. The county has a population of about 17,000.
The assessed valuation of the county is as follows:
The rate of taxation for state, county and schools is $1.28, on the hundred dollar valuation.
The county is in first class financial condition, having no debt, and her warrants selling at par. The principal towns are Marquand, Mine La Motte and Fredericktown.
Fredericktown The Capital
An Old French Village Transformed in Recent Years Into A Live American City
Fredericktown, the capital of Madison County, is located on the Iron Mountain Railway, 104 miles south of St. Louis. It is one of Missouri’s old towns which has taken on new life. Unlike the man who would profit by his experience, if he could go over his life again, but is too old now, Fredericktown has renewed her youth and is profiting by past experiences. Instead of sitting still and waiting for wealth and growth, her prosperous citizens are grasping every opportunity for the advancement of the town. Realizing that in multitude, as well as in union, there is strength, they are in a enterprising way throwing out inducements for manufacturing and other institutions, to the capitalist, emigrant and laborer.
The village of St. Michaels, of which Fredericktown is the successor, was established about 1802 by several French families who received grants of land in the vicinity. In 1814 St. Michaels was destroyed practically by an overflow of the Saline and Castor Creeks, and the people driven to a more elevated point on the opposite side of Saline Creek. This settlement was laid off in 1819 and called Fredericktown.
After the completion of the Iron Mountain Railway, that company located their shops here, which at that time made it a point of comparatively considerable importance. The subsequent removal of the shops, however, gave Fredericktown a setback from which it has only, within recent years, recovered.
It is now, with a population of about 2,000, the largest and most important town in the county—having four school buildings, two public and two private institutions, two banks, four mills, electric light and ice plants, besides a creditable line of general stores found in a town of this size. There are some handsome churches and residences also.
School, Colleges and Social Culture - Seat of the Marvin Collegiate Institute Schools the Crowning Feature
The crowning feature of Fredericktown—is the schools of the town. AT its session held at West Plains, Missouri, in September, 1893, the St. Louis Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, appointed a commission to consider the advisability of removing the Conference school located at Caledona, and relocating it at some more convenient and accessible point, provided at least 125,000 for building and 10 acres of ground for a site were contributed by the town desiring the location of the school. At the following session, held at Fredericktown a year afterward, this commission reported bids from several competing points; and the conference, deeming the offer made by the citizens of Fredericktown the most desirable, located the school at this place, and, in honor of the late Bishop Marvin, once a resident of Fredericktown, named it Marvin Collegiate Institute. The building designed by architect, J. B. Legg of St. Louis, is admired by all who have seen it, as much for its architectural beauty as for its convenience, comfort, adaptability to school purposes, and the substantial manner in which it is built.
The interior of the building is finished throughout with hard plaster, straight grained, neatly stained, hardwood floors, polished natural wood finish, heated with low pressure steam and thoroughly ventilated by rarification.
The college chapel has a seating capacity of about 600 people. The building throughout is provided with electric lights and bells, and is heated by steam. Owing to the report actively circulated during the summer months that the building could not be gotten ready, there were only 20 students present at the opening on September 12, last, but this number has already been increased to 90. The faculity consist of five members:
Rev. Nelson B. Henry, president, mental and moral sciences Prof. D. P. Parham, ancient and modern languages Mrs. Lucretia T. Henry, pure and applied mathematics Miss A. M. Eisenberg, instrumental and vocal music Mrs. M. E. Vernon, preparatory department
The President, whose father was a pioneer Methodial preacher in Missouri, and whose maternal grandfather Hon. John D. Cook, was one of the first three Supreme Judges of Missouri, is a native of Cape Girardeau County, Missouri. He has held almost every position offered by the schoolroom. Beginning in the district schools of Wayne County, he worked his way through the village schools to the superintendency of the Macon City public schools, the principal ship of the High School at Oak Ridge, Missouri, then to the chair of English language and literature in the State Norman at Cape Girardeau, which position he held for seven years. He was three years professor of pedagogics in the University of North Carolina, four years president of the Collegiate Institute at Pueblo, Colorado, and enters upon his work as president of Marvin Collegiate Institute, feeling that he is looking after a part of his inheritance.
Prof. Parham is a graduate of Randolph-Macon College, Virginia. He taught in the city schools of Virginia and North Carolina, was two years processor of ancient and modern languages in Bellevue Collegiate Institute at Caledonia, and president of that institution last year.
Mrs. Henry is a graduate of the State Norman at Kirksville, Missouri, has taught in the district and high schools of the state, in the institute at Pueblo, Colorado, was two years professor of mathematics in the Bellevue Collegiate Institute, and is know throughout Southeast Missouri for the religious influence she wheilds over her pupils no less than for her accomplishment as a teacher.
Miss Eisenberg graduated at the Methodist College at Warrenton, Missouri, and afterwards studied music under a teacher from Stutgart, and spent last year at Lelpsic pursuing her favorite musical course of instruction.
Mrs. Vernon is enthusiastic in her work, and is known as a most through teacher. The school offers the regular collegiate course, a through business course, including business practice, shorthand and typewriting, business correspondence, bookkeeping and commercial law; a thorough course in instrumental and vocal music and a course of lectures on theory and practice of teaching. The building is located on a hill just in the edge of town, commanding a splendid view of the town and surrounding country.
The St. Michaels Parochial School, under direction of the Ursuline Sisters, has an enrollment of 80 pupils and an average attendance of 70. The building, covering in every way the requirements pertain to the modern school, is a substantial frame, erected in 1885 at a cost of $3,000. There are four competent teachers, the system of teaching partaking of that of the High School.
The public schools of Fredericktown make a fine showing also. Prof. G. W. Crow is superintendent, and principal of the High School. His assistants are Misses Alice Seller, H. Donnell and Minnie Belkin. Miss Lulu Rankin has charge of the intermediate department. There are three public school buildings, two for white and one for colored pupils. The total school enumeration is 465 of whom 51 are colored. The enrollment is 397 and average attendance 266 white and of whom 30 colored. The High School Building was erected in 1871 at a cost of $10,000.
There are five church organizations in Fredericktown all of which have nice buildings, except the Presbyterian. The Methodist has a membership of 300. The Baptists are just completing a handsome new structure; they have a membership of 125. The Christian has a membership of 200, second oldest of that denomination in the State. The Catholic Church here, ST. Michaels is one of the oldest church organization in the state. It was founded by the early French settlers in 1802. The first building erected was of logs. The present commendations structure is of brick, and was erected in 18---.
The membership is about 600.
Connected with this church is an interesting item of history. In the pioneer days of Missouri,
when there were only four French Catholic churches in the state – St.
Louis,
The secret orders represented here are the Masons, Odd Fellows, K nights of Pythias, AOIW, Modern Woodmen, Catholic Knights of America and Knights of Honor. The Masons and Odd Fellows own their own building and have fine halls.
The Deguire Milling Company, and incorporated concern, M. Deguire, president M. E. Blanion, vice president G. W. Lanpher, secretary W. H. Blanton, treasurer
Has a large brick building, erected in 1880 at a cost of $--,000. The capacity daily is 200 barrels of flour and 200 bushels of meal.
The Barnest and Laborers Mill Company was erected in 1880 at a cost of $8,000. The capacity is 50 barrels of flour and 100 barrels of meal daily. The president : E. L. Graham and the manager H. M. Whitener.
The L----deri Klown Lumber Company, N. B. Graham, proprietor and manager, was established in 1891. The concern handles 2,000,000 feet of lumber annually and employs 80 men. The College Hill Planing Mills, R. Chilton & Company, proprietors, was established in 1894. It has a capacity of 8,.000 feet of lumber per day.
The Fredericktown Electric and Manufacturing Company has an electric plant, put in in May, 1894, with a capacity of 1,000 lights and supply 600.
The Ice Plant in connection was added in March, 1895, and has a capacity of five tons per day. The water supply comes from an artesian well which has a flow of 12 feet. The president of the company is Dr. F. R. Newberry, and the manager H. D. Benedict.
George Scherer manufactures a very fine brick cheese. He shipped during 1895, 3,800 pounds. There are two banking institution s here. The Madison County bank was organized in 1891, has a capital stock of $20,000 and annual deposits of $10,000. The officers are F. R. Newberry, president M. Deguire, vice president N. B. Waits, cashier.
The directors are F. R. Newberry, H. D. Benedict, M. Deguire. E. L. Graham, Alex Nifong and D. L. Glaves.
The Security Bank is a new concern, organized last October, with a capital stock of $10,000. The officers are: Val Schlesinger, president James B. Anthony, vice president J. P. Anthony, cashier; E. D. Anthony, attorney
The directors are J. P. Gabriel, H. M. Whitener, E. H. Day, James B. Anthony and B. D. Anthony.
The Star Loan and Building Association was organized her in May, 1890, and since that time has accomplished a great deal for the town in assisting those who without its aid would not be able to build their homes. The stock sold is $195,000; received and disbursed, $113,000, amount loaned, $55,000. One hundred and twenty-five residences have been added to the town through this association. The officers of the association are:
Val Schlesinger, president E. D. Anthony, secretary E. H. Day, treasurer
The directors are J. Pl Gabriel, San Buford, N. B. Watt, R Albert and Carl Schwaner.
It may be truthfully stated that there are more new residences and more in course of erection in Fredericktown than in any other town in Southeast Missouri.
The Southeast Missouri Town Mutual Fire Insurance Company was organized and has its headquarters in Fredericktown. The officers and directors are all residents here. The company, since its organization, has done an encouraging business.
There are two well equipped newspapers here. The Fredericktown News was established in April, 1895 by E. L. Purcell. It is Republican in politics.
The Madison County Democrat, as its named implies, is politically Democratic. The present management under R. F. Chew, editor and proprietor, was begun in March, 1895. The Democrat is the successor of the Plaindealer, Standard, Argus and Eagle, and inherits the good will of them all. Both the News and Democrat are live and enterprising, working together where the good of the community is concerned, and both fill their respective places with honor to themselves and credit to their town.
An idea of the business done here may be gained by a statement of the shipment from the Iron Mountain Railway during 1895, furnished by Mr. C. A. Cook, the local agent. The Shipments are:
460 cars flour 60 cars hay 700 cases of eggs 45,000 pounds of poultry 650 cars of lumber 436 cars of stock 3,800 pounds of cheese 50 cars of granite 200 cars of crushed granite 207 cars of miscellaneous.
Fredericktown has an elevation of about 700 feet and is possessed of ample natural drainage in the creeks that low through the outskirts of the town.
During the summer months there are many visitors who regard it as one of the most healthful points in the state. The moral tone of the town is good and the people are hospitable and intellectual. J. T., Primrose St Louis Republic – February 12, 1896
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