Tales from Days Gone By

The county seat of New Madrid County has been New Madrid for much of the county’s history. However, from 1815 to 1822 the county seat was in a town that no longer exists—Winchester.

June 24, 1780, was a momentous day for settlers in the vicinity of Ruddell’s Station, Kentucky. Warnings of possible attack by British-allied Shawnee and other native people had moved them to take shelter in the fort constructed for such threats.

The most tragic event of the time before the Louisiana Purchase in the southern part of Spanish Upper Louisiana was the murder of David Trotter.

An overturned grave marker in Welch Cemetery near Summersville in Shannon County memorializes Peter Renfrow, whose life was profoundly altered by his crime and its aftermath.

The story of one of the most notorious events occurring near Cape Girardeau during the Civil War began in St. Louis in the early summer of 1863.

Two major European allies assisted the fight for American Independence: France and Spain. One of the consequences of the alliance with Spain was a more favorable view of Americans by the Spanish authorities in Louisiana.

July 27, 1871, proved to be a tragic day in the small Wayne County community of Lowndes.

The lure of riches has given rise to many historical events. Sometimes the promised boom happens, but often the lure leads to overly optimistic visions. One such event occurred in the late 1880s in Stoddard County.

Reflecting on the upcoming 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution, it seems unlikely that southeastern Missouri had any role. However, hostilities did directly affect those who lived in Ste. Genevieve.

One of the most influential of Wayne County’s public servants in the late 19th Century was a Russian immigrant who came to the U.S. with his father in 1849.