Martin & Zelda Capehart Genealogy Website

Martin & Zelda Capehart Genealogy Website

Hickory County/Hermitage, Missouri

HICKORY COUNTY

Here in the Ozark Highland of Missouri, Hickory County was organized 1845, and named for US President Andrew Jackson, known as Old Hickory. Lying in the Osage land cession of 1808, the county area was early known to French trappers. From 1819 to 1832, a Kickapoo Indian Reservation was west of Pomme De Terre (Fr. Potato) River in the county. Settlers from Tenn. and Ky. came in the late 1820's.

Hermitage, the centrally located county seat, on the Pomme De Terre was laid out 1846-47, and named for Andrew Jackson's home in Tenn. South of town 3 miles in a beautiful scenic area, construction began in 1957 on Pomme De Terre Reservoir and Dam, flood control and recreation project.

Through west Hickory county ran the route of the famed 1858-61 Butterfield Overland Mail. In the county there was a relay and mail station at Quincy and a relay station near Elkton. During the Civil War, the county suffered troop movement, skirmishes, and guerrilla raids. The only railroad in the county, the K. C., Osceola & So. (Frisco) was built through Weaubleau, 1898.

(See other side)

Erected by State Historical Society of Missouri

And State Highway Commission, 1960

(Continued from other side)

Encompassing 410 square miles of rough hilly timberland and high, rolling prairie, Hickory County is a poultry, livestock, and grain producer. Lead and zinc are found in the county and zinc was mined in the 1890's near Pittsburg and Elkton.

Weaubleau, site of an early settlement in southwest Hickory County, was laid out in 1860, and first called Haren. Early school, Weaubleau Christian Institute, opened in 1871 there. Among other communities and towns are Wheatland, laid out in 1869, 5 miles west of the county seat. Hermitage: Cross Timbers, laid out in 1870; Preston, laid out in 1857; Pittsburg settled in the 1840's; Avery settled in 1838; Elkton settled in 1830's; and Quincy laid out in 1840, at site of county's first post office known as Judy's Gap for blacksmith Samuel Judy.

At Bone Spring near Pomme De Terre River, numerous mastodon were found in the late 1850's and early 1840's. One skeleton put together by Lousan Albert Koch was sold in 1844 to the British Museum. An Indian quarry and mounds and campsites have been found in the county.

A brief history of Hickory County is inscribed on this sign located on the square of Hermitage, the county seat.

History of Hickory County, MO copied in its entirety from the sign.

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Hickory County Historical Society Museum

Hickory County Court House, Hermitage, MO

The entrance to the Hickory County Court House. This is where John Ellis & Sara Elizabeth Burton would have gone to get their marriage license.

The old Hermitage County Jail

Pomme De Terre Lake

Creations by Zelda

The Martin & Zelda Capehart Genealogy Website

The information on this website has been compiled from many sources. We have tried to document and verify all information as much as possible and will continue to do so. If you find an error or have additional information please contact us.

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The photos shown here were taken on our 2nd trip to Hermitage, MO in May of 2005. The town holds special significance to us because this is where my grandparents, John & Sarah Elizabeth (Burton) Capehart were married and lived during most of the early years of their marriage, before migrating to Colorado.

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