Lewis
County
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Lewis County is in the northeastern part of the state. It is bounded on the north by Clark County; east by the Mississippi River, which separates it from Illinois; south by Marion and Shelby Counties; west by Knox County. It has a land area of 325,000 acres. The population in 1997 was 10,159.
About the beginning of the nineteenth century a Frenchman named Lesseur built a hut on the west bank of the Mississippi River, at the site of the present city of LaGrange, and commenced trading with the Indians. He was the first known white settler to make a name for himself in the territory that is now Lewis County. Lesseur was only a temporary resident and occupied his hut during the fall and summer months.
According to the most reliable record, the first one to become a permanent resident and to cultivate the soil was John Bozarth, a native of Grayson County, Ky. In the spring of 1810, he settled near the site of the present city of LaGrange and broke twenty acres of land, which he planted with corn. In November of the same year, he returned to Kentucky and moved his family and slaves, in all eighteen people, to his new home. He built the first log cabin in what is now Lewis County.
Lewis County was organized by legislative act approved January 2, 1833, and named in honor of Captain Meriwether Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and Governor of the Territory of Louisiana from 1807 to 1809.
In 1832, the members of the Methodist Episcopal denomination at the house of Captain William Pritchard, on Cottonwood prairie formed the first church organization of Lewis County.
During the Civil War the county suffered from the raids of marauding parties and some property was destroyed. Like many other counties in the State, Lewis was not a pleasant place to live in those trying times. Recovery from the effects of the war was rapid.
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University of Missouri Extension Lewis County lewisco@missouri.edu Updated 05/30/07 |
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