This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/EMB.2ACE/121.124 Message Board Post: I have not been able to get all my research on Cooter together to send you a copy. However I now, at long last, know how the town got its name! It's not from ducks, or turtles, or even plowblades. The "Encyclopedia of Missouri" says Cooter was named Coutre in 1854 in honor of the Coutre family of New Madrid, one of whom was a merchant there in 1795. "Houck's History of Missouri" identifies that merchant as Portell Coutre. P.S. I believe that "Cooter Lake" that Tom Cassidy referred to is the Lake Farm that used to cover a lot of this area.