County: Chariton County
Location of courthouse: W. Jackson St. (US 24) & S. Cherry St., Keytesville
Location of county: Center, and just north of middle in state: crossroads of MO-5, MO-11 & US-24
Organized: Nov. 16, 1820
Named after: John Chariton leader of a fur expedition
County seat: Keytesville
Elevation (highest): 283 meters (928 feet)
Population: 7,480 (2017)
The Person
"The first white men to set foot on the soil of Chariton County were French fur traders who had a trading post near the mouth of the Chariton River. It is not known when they came, but it is certain they were here prior to 1804 because of mention made by Louis and Clark in the report of their expedition.
"Chariton County was named for the first settlement in its boundaries, Chariton, located in the very southern part of the county, and the town is said to have been named for John Chariton, leader of a French fur trading expedition, which once had its headquarters on the site which was near the mouth of the river bearing the same name. Hence, town, river and county trace their name back to the same source." ~ History of Chariton County, 1923, Gehrig, pp.109, 211-212
Chariton organized November 16, 1820. John Chariton was the name of a leader of the French fur-traders who at an early day located on the Missouri River at the mouth of a creek which was ever afterwards called Chariton. Hence the name of the creek and the county.: Google Books
"John Chariton died at his home, "Elm Farm", Sept. 14, 1823, and was buried in the family cemetery there. His widow survived until 1847. She was also buried in the Chariton family cemetery." ~ Google Books
The Place:
"The first white men to set foot on the soil of Chariton County were French fur traders who had a trading post near the mouth of the Chariton River. It is not known when they came, but it is certain they were here prior to 1804 because of mention made by Louis and Clark in the report of their expedition.
"In 1818 this territory still belonged to Howard County. A land sale was called (in) Old Franklin and then the first Chariton land was sold. This directed much attention to this territory and a tide of immigration started this way...
"Chariton County was organized Nov. 16, 1820. The action was the work of the same legislature that organized Boone and Ray Counties, and that met at St. Charles.
"Of a portion of Howard County the new county of Chariton was formed. The boundaries were very different indeed to those of the present (1923) time since on the north Chariton County extended to the Iowa line and embraced the territory now comprised in Linn, Sullivan, Putnam and a portion of Adair and Schuyler Counties. With the organization of Linn County in 1837, it took its present boundaries which are as follows:
"Chariton County was named for the first settlement in its boundaries, Chariton, located in the very southern part of the county, and the town is said to have been named for John Chariton, leader of a French fur trading expedition, which once had its headquarters on the site which was near the mouth of the river bearing the same name. Hence, town, river and county trace their name back to the same source.
"The first county seat of the new county was this town of Chariton laid out in the spring of 1817, and at that time the most western settlement on the Missouri River. Because of its location, it gave great promise of future commercial importance.
"Because of health conditions this town had to be abandoned, and in 1833, Keytesville was chosen as the county seat. It was in that year and the following that the first court house and other buildings were erected. During the Civil War this court house was burnt. In 1866, a new court house was built.
"When the court house was burned in 1864, many of the records were destroyed." ~ History of Chariton County, 1923, Gehrig, pp. 109, 211, 212.
"During 1818 and 1830 there was considerable immigration into the county. Then soldier land grants and "New Madrid claims" worked to retard settlement. Congress granted each soldier of 1812, 160 acres of land and the same to widows and orphans of those who had died or been killed in service. Many of these claims passed into the hands of speculators, non-residents, who hoped that improvements in the new county would enhance their claims.
"New Madrid claims were located also in the county, and these, too, were manipulated by land grabbers...For more than a quarter of a century these claims interfered with the progress of the county." ~ Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri, 1901, Conard, Vol. 1, p. 567.
Military Bounty Tracts
"Half a million acres in Chariton and Carroll Counties were appropriated for military bounties. These tracts of bounty lands are now (1837), many of them the property of non-residents, and, if offered in the county, would sell for a fair price. These lands are contained in Townships fifty-three, fifty-four, fifty-five and fifty-six North in Ranges sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two and twenty-three west of the fifth principal meridian." ~ Wetmore's Gazetteer of the State of Missouri, 1837, p. 28.
"The first mill of any pretentious size was built in 1820 and was known as Findley's Mill. It was run by steam. It burned in the winter of 1823-24...Confederates under Thrailkill and Todd raided Keytesville on September 10, 1864, and burned the court house and murdered the sheriff, Robert Carmon..." ~ Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri, 1901, Conard, Vol. 1, p. 567.