Fredericktown
Here in the southern extent of Missouri’s historic southeast Lead Belt, Fredericktown was laid out on Saline Creek, 1819, by state legislator Nathaniel Cook. Commissioners T.F. Tong, Joseph Bennett, James Dotson, John Burditt, and Henry Whitener chose it as the seat of Madison County, organized, 1818. The town name, according to a tradition, is for pioneer George Frederick Bollinger, and the county name honors the U.S. President.
Historical continuity in the area begins with 1715 when La Mothe Cadillac, French Gov. of Louisiana, seeking silver, found lead at nearby Mine La Motte. Philip Renault opened the mine, 1723, and transient miners operated there throughout the 1700’s. First permanent settlement began in 1799 when French-Canadians founded St. Michael, now a part of Fredericktown, on a Spanish grant, and Americans took up land in the county.
The Battle of Fredericktown, a Civil War engagement, occurred near her, October 21, 1861. Some 2,000 pro-Southern State Guards led by Col. M. Jeff Thompson, attempting to get control of southeast Mo., were defeated by 4,500 Union troops under Col. J.B. Plumber.
Fredericktown, in north Madison County, lies near the geologic center of the Ozarks in an area of unique mineralization in the Mississippi Valley. The county, one of the State’s prominent lead and cobalt producers, has fertile farm land in wide valleys and fine timber on rugged hills which form a part of Clark National Forest.1
Fredericktown’s development as a banking and trading center was assured with the coming of the St. Louis and Iron Mt. R.R. (Mo. Pac.), 1869. A railroad division point was later set up here. Marvin (Methodist) College was located in Fredericktown, 1894-1925.2
Nearby Mine La Motte, oldest lead mine in Mo., has been utilized by white men since 1715. Osage Indians, who claimed the area until their 1808 Missouri land cession, killed 7 miners there in 1774. In early days, lead from the mine was moulded in to the shape of collars and hung on the necks of horses for the trip over Three Notch Road to Ste. Genevieve.3 An Indian trail and oldest road in Mo., it was named for trail markings. To the west is Einstein Silver Mine. Worked in the 1880’s, it is the only silver mine in Mo.
Erected by State Historical Society of Missouri and State Highway Commission. 1957