County: St. Charles County
Location of courthouse: 100 N. 3rd St., St, Charles
Location of county: Central-eastern border of state, northern border of St. Louis; Crossroads of: I-70, I-64, MO-94. MO-370 & US-61, US-67, MO-79
Organized: Oct. 1, 1812
Named after: Saint Charles Borromeo
County seat: St. Charles
Elevation (highest): 198 meters (650 feet)
Population: 402,022 (2019)
The Person:
St. Charles Borromeo
ITALIAN CARDINAL AND ARCHBISHOP
"St. Charles Borromeo, Italian San Carlo Borromeo, (born October 2, 1538, Arona, duchy of Milan—died November 3, 1584, Milan; canonized 1610; feast day November 4), cardinal and archbishop who was one of the most important figures of the Counter-Reformation in Italy. He is the patron saint of bishops, cardinals, seminarians, and spiritual leaders.
"Borromeo received a doctorate in civil and canon law from the university of Pavia in 1559. The following year his uncle, Pope Pius IV, appointed him a cardinal and archbishop of Milan. Chief among his curial functions was heading the Consulta, a position that made him secretary of state to Pius. The pope leaned upon him heavily in directing the third convocation of the Council of Trent (1562–63). When the council closed, Borromeo served in executing its decrees and was largely instrumental in bringing out the Roman catechism in 1566. Also at this time he was actively sponsoring the conversion of Swiss Protestants. Upon the death of his uncle, Borromeo took part in the conclave that elected Pius V (1566).
"Thereafter Borromeo resided at Milan, where serious administrative problems confronted him. He regularly visited his more than 1,000 widely scattered parishes, which fell under the jurisdictions of King Philip II of Spain and also of Venice, Genoa, and Novara. Seeking to apply the edicts of the Council of Trent to his own diocese, Borromeo worked diligently to eradicate the sale of indulgences, to reform monasteries, and to simplify the ornate interiors of many of the churches. He fostered clerical education to combat the threat of Protestantism and established seminaries and colleges at Milan and in the Italian cities of Inverigo and Celano. Colleges for lay students also were erected and entrusted to the Jesuits. His last undertaking was the opening of the college at Ascona, Switzerland, in 1584.
"Political and other turmoils beset Borromeo. He became embroiled with the Milanese Senate and with the viceroy, Luis de Requesens y Zúñiga, as well as with the rebellious canons of Santa Maria della Scala and the order of the Humiliati (“The Humble Ones”). Borromeo nevertheless had the support of many religious congregations, including his own Oblates of St. Ambrose. In 1569 one of the Humiliati, the priest Girolamo Donato Farina, attempted to assassinate Borromeo. Despite the archbishop’s pleas for leniency, Farina and his accomplices were tortured and executed." ~ Encyclopedia Britannica
The Place:
"Congress organized Missouri as a Territory July 4, 1812, with a Governor and General Assembly ... Under the act of June 4, 1812, the first General Assembly held its session in the house of Joseph Roubidoux, in St. Louis, on the 7th of December, 1812 ... The next session of the Legislature convened in St. Louis, December 6, 1813 ... " ~ Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri, 1901, Conrad, pp. 27-29.
"St. Charles County was organized October 1, 1812, by proclamation of Gov. William Clark, in accordance with an act of Congress, which organized the districts of St. Charles, St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau and New Madrid into the same number of counties.
"The county, or district of St. Charles, as it was originally called, had no definite limits. It extended from the Missouri River on the south, to the British Possessions on the north; and from the Mississippi River on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west. It retained these dimensions until 1816, when Howard County was cut off from the western part of St. Charles, and organized into a separate municipality. Cedar Creek, which forms the eastern boundary of Boone County, was established as the line between St. Charles and Howard. In December, 1818, Montgomery and Lincoln Counties were organized, and St. Charles was reduced to its present limits.
"At that time there were but five counties in the territory -- St. Charles, St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau and New Madrid. These, however, included an almost limitless territory west of the Mississippi. But at the second session of the Legislature, the county of Arkansas was formed, which then contained a population of 827 inhabitants.
"By each succeeding Legislature, new counties were formed from the territory of former ones as the country continued to settle up ... The City of St. Charles was made the seat of government, and here the Legislature held its sessions." ~ History of St. Charles County, 1885, St. Louis Publishing Company, pp. 126, 186, 188-189.
The Forts of St. Charles County
"Prior to the transfer of the country to the United States, we have little or no information of the condition of the affairs between the Indians and the French and Spanish settlers. Their relations, however, were nominally friendly ... until about the time of the War of 1812. Relations became strained, with several raids by the Indians, and Tecumseh, one of the ablest chiefs of the Indians advanced the thought that eventually the Indians from the area would be driven to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The Indians objected to this theory.
"The settlers of Missouri ... lost no time in preparing themselves for the protection of their homes ... In St. Charles County, a number of forts were built ... The principal forts erected here were:
Daniel M. Boone's fort, in Darst's Bottom, which was the largest and strongest in the county; Howell's fort, on Howell's Prairie; Pond's fort, on the Dardenne Prairie, a short distance southeast of the present town of Wentzville; White's fort, on Dog Prairie; Koontz fort, on the Boone's Lick road, eight miles west of St. Charles; Zumwalt's fort, near the present town of O'Fallon; and Castlio's fort, near Howell's Prairie." ~ History of St. Charles County, 1885, St. Louis Publishing Company, pp. 151-152.