Chariton Co..... 1/4/1819.... 160 acres Chariton County was formed, from Howard County, MO, 16 November 1820 Macon Co.....1/29/1819.... 160 acres At Howard Co. website is the following: The "Mother of Counties" Howard County was created under an act of the general assembly, approved on January 13, 1816. It was named for Benjamin Howard, first Missouri Territory governor. Howard County was the ninth organized county in the Missouri Territory and was created from the counties of St. Louis and St. Charles. Although it is much smaller today, when originally organized, Howard County comprised nearly 22,000 square miles - about one-third as large as the present state of Missouri. Obviously, Howard County is not that large today. The following counties (or parts of counties) were at first part of Howard County: Adair; Boone; Caldwell; Carroll; Chariton; Clay; Clinton; Cole; Cooper; Daviess; DeKalb; Gentry; Grundy; Harrison; Henry; Johnson; Lafayette; Linn; Livingston; Macon; Mercer; Moniteau; Morgan; Pettis; Putnam; Randolph; Ray; Saline; Sullivan; Worth; the northern parts of Benton, Miller, and St. Clair; and possibly parts of Audrain, Monroe, and Shelby. Also, the following counties (or parts of counties) in Iowa were at first part of Howard County: Clarke; Decatur; Ringgold; Union; Wayne; parts of Adams and Taylor; and probably parts of Appanoose, Lucas, and Monroe. You learn something everyday! Lanita

The first five counties in Missouri were New Madrid, St Charles, Cape Girardeau Ste. Genevieve and St Louis and St Louis City was first settled in 1764 and recognized as an American City in 1804. St Charles covered most of the north portion of the state the borders being the two rivers, the Missouri and the Mississippi. St Louis Co covered the middle of the state and New Madrid, Ste. Genevieve and Cape Girardeau the lower part. Howard county was formed in 1816 St Louis and St Charles Co with several other counties being formed in 1818. As far as Howand being the :Mother of Counties" you can say the same for St Louis and New Madrid Counties. Old Lawrence County was form in 1815 from New Madrid Co and abolished in 1819 becoming part of Arkansas. You can follow the expansion of the population by looking at the counties and how the were formed. The forming of counties was driven by the desires of the settlers to have a governing body closer to them so that they would not have to make 3- 4 day trips to pay taxes settle lawsuits, etc. The expansion seems to flow up and down the Mississpi and inland along the Misssouri rivers. There were still arguements over borders between Iowa and Missouri up into the mid 1800 and later. The Howard Co. sites claim that it was the mother os some of these counties is a stretch. Take Adair Co, 1841 from Macon Co, Macon Co, 1837 from Chariton Co and Randolph Co, Chariton Co, 1820 from Howard Co, Randolph, 1829 from parts of Ralls and Chariton. Monroe and Shelby Co never were part of Howand there "Mother County" was St Charles. As far as Iowa goes it was part of the Michigan territory in the early 1800"s. In 1834 The Dakotas, Iowa and the western half of Minnesota were attached to the Michigan Territory. By 1836 this area became the Wisconsin Territory. In 1838 the area of the Wisconin territory was reduced to the to bcome the state of Wisconsin and the rest became Iowa Territory. Iowa was admitted as a state in 1846 and in 1849 what was left became Minnesota. I have seen people list a persons birth in X county and and xxx year but that county did not become a couty until 20 years after the birth. This cause some confusion for other researchers. Most of the state geneology sites have county formation sites and you need to look at them. Iowa http://iagenweb.org/state/places/formation.htm Missouri http://www.rootsweb.com/~mogenweb/dates.htm North Carolina http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncgenweb/county.html The USGENWEB Project http://www.usgenweb.com/ One of the first research sites on the internet. It is by state and then by counties. Hate to ramble along like this but it is a dreary day and expected to get nastier. Leon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lanita Sconce Smith" <ozarkn@grm.net> To: <modavies@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 8:32 PM Subject: Re: [MODAVIES] MO land question/well, you learn something everyday!! > Chariton Co..... 1/4/1819.... 160 acres > > Chariton County was formed, from Howard County, MO, 16 November 1820 > > Macon Co.....1/29/1819.... 160 acres > > At Howard Co. website is the following: > The "Mother of Counties" > > Howard County was created under an act of the general assembly, > approved on January 13, 1816. It was named for Benjamin Howard, first > Missouri Territory governor. Howard County was the ninth organized > county in the Missouri Territory and was created from the counties of > St. Louis and St. Charles. > > Although it is much smaller today, when originally organized, Howard > County comprised nearly 22,000 square miles - about one-third as large > as the present state of Missouri. Obviously, Howard County is not that > large today. The following counties (or parts of counties) were at > first part of Howard County: Adair; Boone; Caldwell; Carroll; Chariton; > Clay; Clinton; Cole; Cooper; Daviess; DeKalb; Gentry; Grundy; Harrison; > Henry; Johnson; Lafayette; Linn; Livingston; Macon; Mercer; Moniteau; > Morgan; Pettis; Putnam; Randolph; Ray; Saline; Sullivan; Worth; the > northern parts of Benton, Miller, and St. Clair; and possibly parts of > Audrain, Monroe, and Shelby. Also, the following counties (or parts of > counties) in Iowa were at first part of Howard County: Clarke; Decatur; > Ringgold; Union; Wayne; parts of Adams and Taylor; and probably parts > of Appanoose, Lucas, and Monroe. > > > You learn something everyday! > Lanita > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MODAVIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >