St. Clair County
Remnants Of The Past

Early St. Clair County

Missouri History Encyclopedia, 1901

St. Clair County
The first white man of whom there is record was Jacob Coonce, a hunter, who came in 1827. In 1831 he built a cabin, the first in the region, near the Sac River, about three miles northeast of the present site of Roscoe. This he soon abandoned to make his home on Brush Creek, in the southern part of what is now St. Clair County. In 1833 Ebenezer and William Gash located on Coon Creek. The Culbertson brothers, Isaac, Joseph and Ira, settled near by in 1835, and later the same year, James and Robert Gardner settled farther southeast in the Coon Creek neighborhood. Other early settlers were Daniel, Joseph and Calvin Waldo, on the Sac River, south of the present site of Osceola. Calvin made his home in the big bend, where he opened a store, the second in what is now the county. In 1834 Joseph Montgomery located on the Osage River, south of the Monegaw Springs. He was one of the first county justices and became a State Senator and surveyor for Cedar and Dade Counties. The same year came to the same neighborhood Jesse, Charles and Lindsey Applegate. Charles and Lindsey put up a small watermill. Jesse was a surveyor, and did much surveying for the United States. The first settlers on or near the present site of Osceola were Daniel Perrin, Jonas Musgrove, Philip Crow, Reuben S. Nance and Ashby Peebly in 1835, and Dr. Pleasant M. Cox, with his brothers, William and Joseph, in 1836; Richard P. Crutchfield later the same year. All were from Kentucky or Tennessee. Nance was county surveyor from 1841 to 1861. Among the settlers of that day was Littleton Lunsford, a "hardshell" Baptist preacher, noted for his wonderful command of language and fervid oratory, though an uneducated man.

St. Clair County was named for General Arthur St. Clair, of Revolutionary War fame. Its boundaries were defined by act of the General Assembly, January 16, 1833. February 11, 1835, it was attached to Rives (now Henry County) for civil and military purposes, and May 5, 1835, it was designated as St. Clair Township in that county. November 4, following, it was divided into two townships, named Weaubleau and Monegaw, and at an election held December 10, James Gardner and Jesse Applegate were chosen justices of the peace for these townships respectively. The County of St. Clair was organized by act of the General Assembly February 15, 1841, adn then included portions of the present counties of Benton, Hickory and Cedar. Its present boundaries were established in 1845. Joseph Montgomery, Calvin Waldo and Thomas F. Wright were named commissioners to hold an election for location of a county seat. Osceola was chosen after a bitter contest, in which Jesse Applegate endeavored to secure the location at Wyatt's Grove, about one mile east of the present village of Roscoe. The majority in favor of Osceola is variously stated at seven and seventeen. The Wyatt's Grove party sought to overturn the election through court process, but their motion was overruled by Judge Foster P. Wright. In 1880 an attempt was made to remove the county seat to Appleton City, but it was defeated at the polls. Under the organic act the first county court sat at the house of Wiliam Gash, the judges being Joseph Montgomery, William Gash and Hugh Barnett, Sr. The next session was held at the same place and two succeeding sessions were held at Wyatt's Grove. In November, 1841, the seat was established at Osceola. The first circuit court was also held at Gash's house March 29, 1841, Judge Foster P. Wright presiding. Charles P. Bullock was clerk and John Smarr was sheriff. A succeeding session was also held there, and the third court term was held at the house of Pleasant M. Cox, in Osceola, November 29, 1841. Nathaniel Bell was the first representative in the Legislature, elected in 1842.
In 1870 the county adopted township organization, but abandoned it the following year, returning to the system of county justices. St. Clair County is the Sixth Congressional District, in the Sixteenth Senatorial District and in the Twenty-ninth Judicial Circuit. The population in 1900 was 17,997.