Source: Caldwell County, Missouri Genealogical Records Information
Caldwell County was once a part of Ray County. For many years after the
organization of Ray County, the territory now included in Caldwell was
unsettled. Over it roved migratory Indians and white hunters, but it was not
considered for homes because it had too much prairie land. Early settlers
avoided prairie sod which refused to be broken by their weak plows and preferred
the timber lands which, having been cleared, gave them mellow soil and also
provided them with wood for building cabins and for fuel.
In 1833 began the first town in Caldwell County. Three Lyons brothers, who
were Mormon exiles from Jackson County, settled at Log Creek, two miles
southeast of Kingston. They built a horse mill (the first mill in the county), a
blacksmith shop and three cabins for their families.
The early pioneers came into the county by following trails rather than
roads. Tall prairie grass grew on either side. A state road from Richmond to
Gallatin which passed through Kingston was for years the only thoroughfare
connecting our county with the Missouri River. Merchandise intended for this
section was carried by boat to Camden in Ray County and then carried over this
state road by ox team to its destination. This road passed through the site
where Hamilton was later built. In 1855, the stage coach route was established
between Gallatin and Lexington. Hamilton, scarcely yet started, was made a stage
station.
Caldwell County has not always had twelve townships as at present. Soon
after the organization of the county, there were four townships. Rockford which
comprised the present western tier of counties (Kidder, Mirabile and Rockford);
Blythe which comprised Hamilton, Kingston and Grant; Grand River which took in
all of range 26 and 27 which lay north of Shoal Creek; and Davis which took in
all of range 26 and 27 which lay South of Shoal.
In 1867, changes were made. Rockford was sub-divided; the part North of
Shoal was Kidder township, the part South of Shoal was Mirabile. Grand River
township was sub-divided. Range 26 became Elm, Range 27 became Grand River.
Blythe was sub-divided into Hamilton, eight miles long, and Kingston, ten miles
long. This made seven townships. in 1870, the twelve townships of equal size
were arranged as at present and the name of Grand River Township was changed to
New York Township by petition of the residents thereof, most of whom had come as
settlers from the state of New York in the late 60's.
There are eight towns at present in the limits of Caldwell County. Kingston,
Mirabile, Hamilton, Breckenridge, Kidder, Nettleton, Polo, Braymer and Cowgill.
A visit to the old cemeteries of our county is worthwhile, for there lies
the pioneers of whom we hear in the county's history. The oldest cemetery in the
county is the burial plot used by the first families in this county in the Shoal
Creek settlement of 1832. Those graves lie one half mile east of Kingston. While
the names are know, the graves have long since been plowed over.
The Mormon cemetery, west of the old town of Far West, is next in age. It is
thought to have contained two hundred graves, but records of only four of the
dead have been kept. The grave stones have disappeared and the field has been
under cultivation. The graves in the old Salem (or Richey) Cemetery have
likewise been lost, with little record of the dead. Many other small burial
plots in the county have been plowed over when early families sold their farms
to strangers.
The White Cemetery in Fairview Township is considered the oldest cemetery in
the county still in use. Records show its use in 1845 but tradition says it is
even older, saying that some of the Mormons wounded at Haun's Mill Massacre
(which occurred at no great distance) died soon after, and were the first to be
buried in the White Graveyard.
Other old cemeteries whose stones by their inscriptions show early use are
Bonanza (also called Ernsbarger or Rutherford) in 1839, Paxton Farm in Mirabile
Township in 1842, Cox in New York Township in 1843, Pleasant Ridge in New York
Township in 1845, and Hines in Rockford Township in 1846.
It is interesting to note that soldiers of the following wars were buried in
Caldwell County: Revolutionary, War of 1812, Black Hawk War, Mormon War, Florida
Indian War, Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish-American War and World War.
This page was last updated September 24, 2006.