County: Dade County
Location of courthouse: N. Allison Ave. & Water St., Greenfield
Location of county: SW quadrant, one county from western border; crossroads of MO-39, MO-91, MO-215, MO-245 & US-160
Organized: Jan. 29, 1841
Named after: Major Dade of the Seminole War
County seat: Greenfield
Elevation (highest): 468 meters (1,535 feet)
Population: 7,588 (2017)
The Person
Here is his Find-A-Grave listing for his grave in St. Augustine, FL. It also contains some historic and military information
Brevet Major Francis Langhorne Dade
Birthdate: February 22, 1792
Birthplace: King George County, Virginia, United States
Death: December 28, 1835 (43)
Bushnell Sumter County, Florida, United States (Massacre -Killed in Action)
Place of Burial: Saint Augustine, St. Johns County, Florida, United States
"LifeSketch: Birth: Feb. 22, 1792 King George County Virginia, USA Death: Dec. 28, 1835 Bushnell Sumter County Florida, USA
"Brevet Major, Company B, 4th Infantry
"Listed in Ponce de Leon Land and Florida War Record ... By George M. Brown (1902), page 159 - 2. Dade, Francis L., br. major Co. "B," died at Dade's Massacre December 28, 1835; killed in action.
"Listed on U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs Database. (Dade, Francis L, d. 12/28/1835, B MAJOR B 4TH INF FLA WAR, Orig Bur Dades Massacre See 213333 Apr 2, 1907, Plot: PYRAMBENEATH, *) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Roll of Honor * Dade's Command
Brevet Major Francis Langhorne Dade 4th Regiment Infantry Capt Upton Sinclair Fraser Co. B 3rd Artillery Capt George W. Gardiner Co. C 2nd Artillery 1st Lt. William Elon Basinger 2nd Regiment Artillery 2nd Lt. Robert R. Mudge 3rd Regiment Artillery Brevet 2nd Lt. Richard Henderson 2nd Artillery Brevet 2nd Lt. John L. Keais 3rd Artillery Ass't Surgeon John Slade Gatlin Medical Staff
"MAJOR FRANCIS LANGHORNE DADE A Brief Biography Francis Langhorne Dade was born in King George County. Virginia in 1792. His parents were Francis and Sarah (Taliaferro) Dade (At this writing the author could locate nothing on. Dade’s from his birth until 1813.) Dade was appointed a third lieutenant in the 12th U.S. infantry Regiment on March 29, 1813, receiving his commission through field service and not as a military academy graduate. In 1815: he was transferred to the 4th Infantry and on September 44, 1816 was promoted to first lieutenant. He became a captain February 14, 1818 and received a brevet major rank February 24 1828. In 1826, Francis Dade married Amanda Middleton (of Pensacola). Prior to the start of the Second Seminole War (in Florida) he was stationed in Key West, Florida Territory. In December, 1835 his command, Co. B, 4th U.S. infantry, was transported from Key West aboard the schooner "Motto" to Fort, Brooke (Tampa) to assist in the peaceful westward migration of Seminoles near there. Toward this end, at Fort Brooke he assumed command of an expedition destined for Fort King (Ocala)* and the assistance of U.S. forces in the area. On the morning of Monday, December 28, 1835, Dade's force was ambushed by Seminoles led by their chief, Micanopy. Outnumbered 2 to 1, his soldiers fought bravely. Dade, it is believed, died in the first volley from a shot fired by Micanopy. He was 43 years old. Military accounts list the size of Dade's command as numbering between 108 - 117 men. It is known that only three survived at day's end. A relief column reached the massacre site two months later and buried the dead. In August, 1842, at the war's end, the bodies of Dade and others were disinterred and later reburied in St. Augustine in what is now the national cemetery. Amanda Dade received half her husband's annual salary until 1840. She died in her hometown of Pensacola in 1867. Dade Memorial Park (now Dade Battlefield State Historical Site) was established by the Florida Legislature on 80 acres, 2 miles from Bushnell (in Sumter County) in 1921. A memorial to Dade and his men is in the cemetery at West Point, since several of his officers were graduates of the U.S. Military Academy. Dade City, Florida; Dadeville, Alabama; Dade County, Georgia; and Dade County, Florida are named in his honor." ~ geni
The Place:
"The first settlements in what is now Dade County were made in the latter part of 1833 and spring of 1834. Among the pioneers who suffered the usual hardships, were William, Redden and John Crisp, who located on and near Crisp Prairie, and after whom it was named. John Crisp is still living (1874) on Big Sac and is one of the foremost farmers and stock-raisers in the country. Silas Hobbs settled on Big Sac; George Davidson on Limestone Creek, about 3 miles southwest of the present site of Greenfield; Judge Nelson on, and Samuel La Force near Crisp Prairie. Springfield, in Greene County, then a very small place, was the nearest post-office. Madison Campbell's grist-mill, on little Sac, in what is now Polk County, was the only grist-mill in all that region." ~ Campbell's Gazetteer of Missouri, 1874, p. 179.
"Dade County was created January 29, 1841, formed from Greene County, and was named for Major Dade, of Seminole massacre fame. Its northern boundary was ten miles within the present county of Cedar, and its southern boundary was nine miles within the present county of Lawrence; it was reduced to its present dimensions, March 28, 1845. It was provided in the organic act that the courts should temporarily hold at the house of William Penn, until the commissioners appointed, Josiah McCrory, of Barry County; William Caulfield, of Greene County, and Winfrey Owens, of Polk County, should select a permanent county seat. At first it was expected to locate the county seat on Pennsylvania Prairie, but a supplemental act of the General Assembly required that it be established within four miles of the center of the county. The commissioners selected the present site, taking for the purpose a tract of land of fifty-one acres donated by Matthias H. Allison.
"The first settlers found evidence of previous occupation by white men. Seven miles northwest of Greenfield, were the remains of a fortification and furnaces; it is conjectured that these were constructed by Spanish explorers." ~ Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri, Conrad, Vol. 2, pp. 214-215.
"Dade County, organized 1841, parent county Greene. Lost ten mile strip on northern boundary to Cedar County, and nine mile strip on southern boundary to Lawrence County, reducing it to its present limits, Mar. 28, 1845; Courthouse burned in 1863, but records had been removed to safety." ~ Fourth Edition of the Handy Book for Genealogists, George Everton, Sr. p. 98.