County of marker: Johnson County
Location of this waymark: County Courthouse, Warrensburg
Location of Marker N 38° 46.411 W 093° 42.851 (Traffic Triangle US 50 and Business 50), Warrensburg
Marker erected by: State Historical Society of Missouri and Missouri Highway Department
Date marker erected: 1955
Marker text (partial): "One of Missouri's early western prairie towns, Warrensburg was founded in 1836 as seat of Johnson County, organized in 1834. The town is named for Martin Warren, a pioneer settler, and
the county for United States Vice President Richard M. Johnson."
The Person:
Richard M. Johnson (1837–1841)
Richard Mentor Johnson was born near present-day Louisville, Kentucky, on October 17, 1780. His parents had moved from Virginia to the frontier lands of Kentucky shortly before his birth. Johnson grew up on the family farm, and his parents and siblings were active in the community, both in politics and business. Johnson had little formal education but read law and was admitted to the bar in 1802. He served in the Kentucky state legislature for two years until he was elected to the United States House of Representatives.
Once in Washington, D.C., Johnson served in the House from 1807 until 1819. He was a supporter of Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republican Party. During the presidency of James Madison, he became known as one of the War Hawks, congressmen who supported the President’s efforts to go to war against Britain. When the War of 1812 began, Johnson went back to Kentucky and raised a regiment. He achieved military acclaim during the Battle of the Thames in October 1813, when he fought with William Henry Harrison against the British and their Native American allies. During the battle, the Shawnee leader, Tecumseh, was killed, and Johnson was credited with killing him although no real evidence existed that he was actually responsible for Tecumseh’s death.
Johnson was badly wounded during the war and returned to Washington after his recuperation. He then turned his attention to war-related issues such as securing pensions for widows and orphans. He also supported federally-funded internal improvements to help develop the West. He retired from the House in 1819 but the Kentucky legislature quickly appointed him to fill a vacant seat in the U.S. Senate, where he served until 1829.
Having spent much of his adult life in debt, Johnson worked to end debt imprisonment and saw success when Congress enacted a federal statute to end debt imprisonment in 1832. He also tried to keep mail delivery on Sundays, reasoning that the government should not stop the delivery of mail on Sunday for religious reasons because of the separation of church and state. He lost reelection to the Senate in 1828 but a year later, his home district sent him back to serve in the House of Representatives.
Johnson lost his reelection to the Senate in part due to his personal life. He had never married but had a common-law wife, a slave whom he inherited from his father. They lived together as a family when he was in Kentucky and had two daughters. When she died in 1833, he had two subsequent mistresses, who were also black or mixed race. Many people knew about Johnson’s personal life, and it was not a major issue when he served in the House. However, it became a liability for him in statewide Senate campaigns and national elections. During his campaign for vice president, some Virginian politicians refused to support Johnson in part because of his personal life.
While serving in the House from 1829 to 1837, Johnson was a supporter and friend of President Andrew Jackson and became strongly allied with the Democratic Party. He had considerable power in the House due to his long congressional career. In the election of 1836, Jackson promoted Johnson as Martin Van Buren’s vice president to balance the ticket. Johnson had strong military experience and was seen as a war hero, whereas Van Buren had not fought in the War of 1812. Although Van Buren won the presidential election, Johnson fell one vote short of the majority he needed. Thus the race was put to the Senate, which voted for Johnson. He is the only vice president to be elected by the Senate.
As vice president, Johnson did not have a close relationship with Van Buren and had little influence in the administration. He presided over the Senate, assigned Senators to committees, and cast tie-breaking votes. He was considered a competent but unremarkable vice president. In the election of 1840, Johnson was considered a liability to Van Buren but instead of nominating someone else, the Democratic Party chose not to nominate anyone nationally but to allow state party organizations to select their vice presidents. In the end, Johnson had little effect on the election, and William Henry Harrison defeated Van Buren for the presidency.
Johnson returned to private life in Kentucky after the election, running his farm and tavern. He served in the Kentucky legislature from 1841 to 1843 and was again elected in 1850 but he never took office. He died of a stroke on November 19, 1850." ~ Miller Center - University of Virginia
The County:
"Johnson County was organized by act of the General Assembly, December 13, 1834, out of Lafayette County, which at that time included all of what is now Lafayette, Johnson and Henry Counties, the northwest half of St. Clair, and a narrow strip on the east side of Bates and Cass Counties, about 1,600,000 acres. Johnson County boundaries were as at present.
"The first county court was held at the residence of Mrs. Rachel Houx near Columbus, on April 13, 1835.
"At the second court on May 4, 1835, Richard Hancock was appointed collector for the county, and the county was divided into four townships, Jackson, Washington, Jefferson and Madison.
"In 1835 the county court appointed four commissioners to select a site for the future county seat. A site had been selected but some people who had moved into the county and settled near Shanghai (Cornelia) bitterly opposed the site because it was on one side of the center of the county. The commissioners reconsidered their decision and selected Warrensburg as being as near the center of the county as it was possible to get. The county then bought the land of the owners and laid out the town of Warrensburg, now known as Old Town...
"In the campaign to move the county seat to Centerview, a newspaper was published at Holden to especially promote the move, and on August 14, 1872, the records of the county court show the following: George Washington, Elhanan Roop, and others filed their petition praying the court to submit to the voters at the next general election, November 5, 1872, the proposition "for the removal of the seat of justice of the county of Johnson from the town of Warrensburg to the town of Centerview." It was taken under advisement till 1 P.M. Later in the day "George Washington on behalf of the petitioners withdrew the petition"... --History of Johnson County, 1918, Cockrell, pp. 92, 93, 94.
"1st Ownership
"The United States of America took possession of the land now referred to as Warrensburg as part of the amazing contractual agreement President Thomas Jefferson made with France called the Louisiana Purchase. Further treaties were made with the Osage Indians (around 1808) as very little trouble ever really existed between Indians and settlers in this area.
1st Permanent Resident (of Johnson County)
"Just one generation after the Revolutionary War, Pleasant Rice would lead an 1818 hunting expedition into the area that would later be named Warrensburg. He would later live off the land and become the first permanent citizen of the county.
1st Hunted Animals
"Like Pleasant Rice, the earliest visitors to the area would be game hunters seeking a certain type of skin or prize. Early hunted animals in this time period include: badgers, deer, foxes, mink, muskrats, panthers, partridges, prairie chickens, quail, raccoons, rodents, turkeys, weasels, and much, much more.
1st Trails
"The Osage Trail ran from Osage to Post Oak and specifically followed a path from Lexington to Warrensburg which is now known as Highway 13. This trail led early pioneers from their boat landings in Minutemen country south to the fertile lands located in Warrensburg. Another unnamed route followed what is today called Highway 50 while at least three other major trails were present in the county.
1st County Name
"Johnson County was initially formed in 1834 and named in honor of a famous politician. Though many people would initially suggest President Andrew Johnson, those people would be incorrect for Johnson would not become president until the Lincoln Assassination following the Civil War. Instead, the county was named after lesser known Richard Mentor Johnson, a senator from Kentucky.
1st Official Courthouse
"In 1838, planners and laborers began the first massive construction project in Warrensburg with their vision to create an extremely stable courthouse. The all brick building was two feet thick on the bottom with about a six inch width near the top. Upon completion of the building, a brick mason identified only with the first name of Wade was so overjoyed to be done that after the last brick was layed on the chimney, he performed some type of enthusiastic dance and stood on his head even though he was partially crippled. The building would be used until 1875 and doubled as a school and church.
1st County Seat Battle
"In 1872, Elhanan Roop and George Washington of Centerview attempted to pass through county legislation a major move that would have moved the county courthouse from Warrensburg into neighboring town of Centerview. Most of the people of the county living outside Warrensburg had signed the petition and Warrensburg became frightened over the possibility of losing the county’s capitol. Though the petition was presented to court, for some strange reason, Roop and Washington removed their request in the afternoon. The courthouse still sits in Warresburg today.
1st Capitol
"Veteran Union Soldier and influential newspaper editor who helped locate Normal School Number 2 in Warrenburg, E. Baldwin, created a plan that would have put Warrensburg on the national map. He advocated that our country should create a new state and name it West Missouri. Since Missouri was so divided during the Civil War, he believed a complete separation could help settle differences between the Blue and the Gray. In his plan, which never did carry much merit in Washington, Major Baldwin would have been easily elected as the first governor and Warrensburg would have become the first, and only, capitol." ~ City of Warrensburg