County of city: Scotland County
Location of site: Monroe St. & Main St., County Courthouse , Memphis
Created: 1843
"Memphis, second town to serve as county seat, was laid out by J.F. Forman, 1843, on land donated by Samuel Cecil and is said to be named for the ancient Egyptian city. Sand Hill, settled in 1835, first county seat, lost out to the centrally located Memphis when the county was reduced in size. The Keokuk & Western Railroad (now C.B.&Q.) reached Memphis in 1871."
"Tom Horn (1860-1903), Indian scout and interpreter for the U.S. Government, was born near Memphis. James Proctor Knott (1830-1911), Mo.Att'y Gen., 1856-61, later Gov. of Ky., lived in Memphis in the 1850's, and his wife, Mollie Foreman Knott, is buried in the Memphis Cemetery.
"In the war years, 1861-65, Scotland County was touched by skirmishes and guerrilla action. In the fall of 1861, forces of Union Col. David Moore, stationed in Memphis, skirmished with the enemy. July 18, 1862, a sharp skirmish of some 3 hours occurred at Vassar Hill near Bible Grove south of Memphis. Confederates led by Col. Joseph Porter withdrew before Union Major J.Y. Clopper's forces. Casualties were heavy."~ State of Missouri Historical Society
An advertisement, which appeared in the September 19, 1927 issue of Aviation, prompted more than 1 hundred inquires to the Pheasant Aircraft Company of Memphis, Mo. Just 3 months earlier, local resident, pilot, and flight instructor Lee R. Briggs had mobilized community members to incorporate a company, bearing than name, to manufacture a light commercial aircraft for the growing aeronautical market.