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Chapter 1: Background for the Division of Wayne County |
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Butler County was established in the year 1849 by a division of Wayne County. Probably there is an interesting story concerning the reasons and the political maneuvering back of the formation of the new county.
With the passage of over 100 years the arguments have been forgotten and we can only guess at the answers. After much thought and study we believe the isolation of the settlements in the southern part of Wayne County from the county seat at Greenville created most of the dissatisfactions leading to a division of the county. This isolation was mainly a result of the geography of the county.
The main settlements in the north part of the county were separated from the settlements in the south part of the county by a rather wide belt of hilly, rocky and heavily forested country, not suitable for agriculture and consequently having only a few settlers.
Furthermore there was very little contact or acquaintance between the settlers in the two areas. Most of the people who settled in the Butler County area prior to the Civil War came from or through Kentucky, or Tennessee.
They crossed the Mississippi River by ferry at Cape Girardeau, then went around the "Big Swamp," crossed the St. Francis River at the Indian Ford, continued west to Big Black River, crossing that stream in the vicinity of Hendrickson.
A few of them settled along Big Black River, but more of them continued west to Cane and Ten Mile Creeks and Little Black River. They then fanned out to the south, occupying the valleys of those three streams and the gently rolling table lands in the central part of the present Butler County. Also some of the immigrants went into the range of low sandy hills just west of the St. Francis River and named the Ash Hills.
It was a long and wearying journey for the settlements along Cane and Ten Mile Creeks, along Little Black River and in the Ash Hills, to Greenville. But no matter how difficult and inconvenient or how long he tried to put it off, nearly every citizen would sometime have to make a trip to the county seat.
From Brannum's Mill on Little Black River to Greenville must have been a round trip of 80 or more miles. The so-called roads were little more than trails along the hollows and ridges with ruts, chuck holes, rocks and stumps ever a hazard.
In summer there was dust and in winter, mud. All of the streams had to be forded as there were no bridges. When the settler just had to go to Greenville, he had three choices of transportation. He could go in a wagon drawn by horses or oxen, by horseback or afoot. In good weather the trip must have taken two or three days and in bad weather with rain, mud and swollen streams, nearly a week. We cannot blame these pioneers for agitating for a county seat nearer home.
We have no information as to when the settlers in the south part of Wayne County commenced to urge a new county. Probably it was several years before 1849. Did the citizens prepare a petition and present it to the General Assembly? Did a committee go to Jefferson City and make a personal plea to the General Assembly? Was there much opposition from the citizens of the north part of the county to the division?
It would be of great interest to have the answers to these questions and also to know the names of the men who pressed for the new county.
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