FIRST - County Seat & Settlers - East of Arbela, MO - First of its Kind on Waymarking.com

County of Marker: Scotland County
Location of Marker: US-136, Smith Memorial Roadside Park, E. of Arbela
Marker Erected by: State Historical Society of Missouri and State Highway Commission
Date Marker Erected: 1959

Marker Text:

Named by pioneer S.W.B. Carnegy for his native land, Scotland County was organized in 1841. Two years later it was reduced in size by formation of Knox County which was made a separate unit, 1845. Its north boundary was not determined until 1851 when U.S. Supreme Court set Mo.-Iowa boundary.

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 centrallt located Memphis when the county was reduced in size. The Keokuk & Western Railroad (now C.B.&Q.) reached Memphis in 1871.

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.

In the Glacial Plains Region of northeast Missouri, Scotland County's rolling prairies are dissected by the alluvial river valleys of the North and South Wyaconda, North and South Fabius, and their tributaries all flowing diagonally in the county. Livestock and grain farms characterize the area.

First settlers came in the 1830's mainly from Ky., Tenn., and other counties in Mo. Scotland County is in territory ceded by Iowa, Sac, and Fox tribes, 1824. Sac and Fox, friendly with pioneers, roamed in the area into the 1840's. Two Indian trails ran north through the county. More than 50 pre-history mounds remain in the vicinity. Mastodon bones were found near Memphis.

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., 1856-61,¹ later Gov. of Ky., lived in Memphis in the 1850's, and his wife, Mollie Foreman Knott, is buried in the Memphis Cemetery. Points of interest include the Jacob Maggard House, used as hospital after "Battle of Vassar Hill," and Christian Church in Bible Grove, built 1855.

Correction to Marker Text since 1955:
1. James Proctor Knott as attorney general from 1858 to 1861.

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