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An Old Church in Papinsville, Bates County, Missouri
Picture taken in 1998
Papinsville history:
Papinville (or Papinsville, Prairie Township) was laid out in April, 1847, and was located on the southeast quarter of Section 16, Township 38 N, Range 30 W, and was named after Melicourt Papin, a Frenchman, and an Indian Trader.
The original proprietor of the town site, was George Pierce; he "squatted" there about the year 1844, and followed agricultural pursuits. Dr. Samuel Hogan was the pioneer physician of the town...He came from Cooper County, Missouri, and died about 1850. The first drug store in the town was opened by Dr. Zachariah Anderson, who located in Papinville in 1844, and died there in 1868...He was a native of Tennessee.
Benjamin Richardson operated the first mill in 1853...The mill remained intact until the breaking out of the War of 1861, when it was destroyed by fire...The postmasters before the Civil War were Dr. Z. Anderson, J. L. Richardson, and John Richardson...The county seat was again changed in 1856, to Butler. Papinville during the years 1852, 1854 and 1855 was the center of much business.
The town is located on the east bank of the Marais Des Cynges, about three miles above its junction with the Osage. The river at the town is perhaps two hundred feet in width from bank to bank when the water is very high, but in normal times the water is very low--scarcely entitling the stream to be dignified with the name of a creek.
In the spring of 1844, the little steamer, "Maid of the Osage" ascended the river to Harmony Mission, three miles above Papinville, in command of Captain William Waldo...His starting point was Jefferson City, his destination Harmony Mission. After the "Maid of the Osage" returned to Jefferson City, other boats ascended the river, some of them making two or three trips during the spring.
The U. S. Mail landed at Papinville in 1856...The town of Osceola, the county seat of St. Clair County, on the Osage, is now (1883) about the head of navigation.
(--History of Bates County, 1883, Goodspeed, pp. 929, 930, 931.)
It is located at Section 16, Township 38 N, Range 30 W, at the south end of Highway N.
Harmony Mission
It came into existence in 1821, under the auspices of the American Board of Home Missions, and continued its labors among the Osage Indians until they were removed west by the Government, in 1837. The mission was then broken up, and the missionaries separated, some returning to their former homes in the East, others locating in Henry County, and others remaining in Bates. The old mission buildings...were bought by the Government in 1838, which paid therefor the sum of $8,000. There remains at this time (1883) nothing to denote the spot on which the buildings once stood, or the locality of the mission except a few trees of the old apple orchard which were planted by the missionary hands soon after their settlement, nor is there remaining anything to indicate that at this point was located, for the space of seven years, the first county seat of Bates County.
Captain William Waldo opened the first store at Harmony Mission, in 1838. He brought his goods overland from Lexington, Missouri, in wagons drawn by ox teams, a distance of 150 miles. Hubbard & Loring brought the first stock of goods to Harmony Mission after the place became the county seat in 1841.
Freeman Burrows was the first postmaster after the town became the seat of justice...The first post-office, although located at Harmony Mission, was called Batesville. In 1848, the county seat was located at Papinsville, and in the course of a few years the old town of Harmony Mission was numbered with the things of the past. (--History of Bates County, 1883, Goodspeed, pp. 925, 926.)
It was near the present site of Papinsville, possibly in Sections 8 & 9, Township 39 N, Range 30 W. (--New Atlas of Missouri, 1874, Map #25, in connection with the General Highway Map of Bates County.)
About the year 1820, a
delegate from the Osage Indians being in Washington on business wtih the
government, expressed a desire to have missionaries sent to his people, who were
occupying the southwestern part of what is now known as Bates County. The
American Board of commissioners for Foreign Missions, determined to comply with
his request, and in 1821, a party was made up for this purpose. They left
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and, after a long and arduous journey they reached
Rapid De Kaw, three miles below Papinsville, having been six months on the way.
They found at the Indian village at what is now known as Papinsville, some
French and half-breed traders, but it is not known when they first located
there. These Frenchmen and half-breeds were not permanent settlers. They were
doubtless from St. Louis and were buying furs and peltries from the Indians...
As soon as possible schools were established for the Indian children...The
mission was kept up til 1837, when the Indians having been removed Westward
there was no further use for it, and accordingly it was disbanded.
(--History of Bates County, 1883, Goodspeed, pp. 796, 797, 798, 799.)
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