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Caldwell County, Missouri

Caldwell County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2000, the population was 8,969. Its county seat is Kingston. The county was organized in 1836 as a haven for the Mormons.

Caldwell is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area.

History

Origin of name

According to the Missouri Secretary of State the County was named by Alexander Doniphan to honor an Indian fighter who his father knew in Kentucky. for whom Caldwell County, Kentucky is named.

Robert L. Ramsay who wrote books about the placenames in Missouri says the county was named for Matthew Caldwell "commander of Indian Scouts in Kentucky" in the War of 1812. No further details are given. The prominent Caldwell war name from Kentucky during this period is William Caldwell (ranger) (famed for his Caldwell's Rangers group). His partner was Matthew Elliott (loyalist). They were pro British in the fights.

There was a Matthew Caldwell who was born in Kentucky in 1781 and was a member of the Missouri House of Representatives in 1834 from Washington, Missouri in Franklin County, Missouri The name of Matthew Caldwell was mentioned in a history of the country written the 1890s but no details were given on who Caldwell was.

Mormon Settlement

Caldwell County was originally part of Ray County, Missouri. The first white settler was Jesse Mann, Sr. who settled one half mile northeast of the public square of Kingston on Shoal Creek in 1831. The early settlers moved back south in 1832 for better protection during the Black Hawk War uprising.

In 1832 a few Mormon settlers who had been evicted from Jackson County, Missouri moved into the county including Jacob Haun whose mill on Shoal Creek would become the scene of the bloodiest battle in the Mormon War.

The settlers established the first town in the county -- Salem -- two miles southeast of Kingston.

In the fall of 1836 a larger number of Mormons moved to the county.

In December 1836 the Missouri General Assembly created Caldwell County with the understanding it would be dedicated to Mormon settlers. Its county seat was Far West, Missouri.

By 1838 Far West reported a population of 4,000.

Included in the immigration were all the major figures of early Mormon history including Joseph Smith, Jr., Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor (Mormon), Edward Partridge, Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt and John D. Lee.

Mormon War

Mormon settlers moved further north into Daviess County, Missouri particularly at Adam-ondi-Ahman after Smith proclaimed that it was the Bibilical place where Adam and Eve were banished after leaving the Garden of Eden and that it would be a gathering place on Judgement Day.

Following a skirmish between Gentile settlers (the Mormon name for non-Mormon settlers) and Mormon settlers in the Gallatin Election Day Battle the Mormon War erupted in which both sides burned and plundered each other's settlements.

After Missouri militia was routed in the Battle of Crooked Creek, Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs issued the Extermination Order to evict the Mormons from the state. Three days later a group from Livingston County, Missouri killed 18 Mormons in the Haun's Mill massacre.

Troops then laid siege to Far West. Smith surrendered in October 1838 and the settlers agreed to leave totally abandoning Far West and then regrouping in Nauvoo, Illinois.

Following the dissolution of Far West the county seat moved to Kingston.

Notable natives

James Cash Penney, founder of J. C. Penney
Charles J. Hughes, U.S. Senator
Frank B. Klepper, Congressman
Zack Wheat, professional baseball player

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,113 km² (430 mi²). 1,112 km² (429 mi²) of it is land and 1 km² (0 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.09% water.