Brazeau is one of the eight

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

located in

Perry County, Missouri Perry County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,956. Its county seat is Perryville. The county was officially organized on November 16, 1820 (effective ...

, in the United States of America.

Etymology

Brazeau Township is named after

Brazeau Creek Brazeau Creek is a stream flowing through Perry County, Missouri and emptying into the Mississippi River. Name Brazeau Creek was named for Joseph (Jean) Brazeau (also spelled Obrazo) a merchant from St. Louis, Missouri in the years 1791–179 ...

, which in turn was named for Joseph Brazeau (also spelled Obrazo) a merchant from St. Louis, Missouri in the years 1791–1799, or a member of his family.

History

The earliest settlers to the area of present-day Brazeau Township were French traders and Shawnee Indians who had been granted the right to settle along Apple creek as a buffer against other tribes to the south. The Spanish authorities also granted Catholic American settlers who arrived from Maryland by way of Kentucky the right to settle in the area, establishing a community called the Fenwick Settlement. The township was organized in 1821, and Brazeau Township was one of the three original townships in Perry County, Missouri, with the other two townships being Bois Brule and Cinque Hommes. Soon thereafter, Protestant English and Scots-Irish settlers arrived from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. In 1839, German Lutheran immigrants from the

Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg Saxe-Altenburg (german: Sachsen-Altenburg, links=no) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in present-day Thuringia. It was one of the smallest of the German states with an area of 1323 square kilometer ...

arrived and established six "colonies" in the township: Altenburg, Dresden, Frohna, Johannisberg, Seelitz, and Wittenberg. The seventh colony, Paitzdorf (

Uniontown, Missouri Uniontown is an unincorporated community located in Union Township in southeastern Perry County, Missouri, United States. It is situated on U.S. Route 61, ten miles southeast of Perryville. Etymology Uniontown was originally known as Paitzdorf ...

), lies in Union Township.

Geography

Brazeau Township covers an area of 63.8 square miles (102.7km2) and contains the two incorporated villages of

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

and Frohna, as well as the unincorporated villages of Brazeau, Seventy-Six and

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...

Brazeau Bottom The Brazeau Bottom is an alluvial floodplain, also called a 'flat', extending along the Mississippi River in Perry County, Missouri. The Brazeau Bottom lies below the American and Bois Brule bottoms along the Mississippi River. The flat bottomla ...

s is an alluvial flood plain in the eastern part of the township. One part of the township is cut off from the residue.

Grand Tower Island Grand Tower Island is a river island in the Mississippi River in the midwestern United States, within the state of Missouri on its border with the state of Illinois. Formed within recorded history by the Avulsion (river), movement of the river ...

lies on the eastern side of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

at the township's far eastern end; it is connected by land only to Illinois, and access to the rest of Perry County requires a boat or a drive of more than to the

Chester Bridge The Chester Bridge is a continuous truss bridge connecting Missouri's Route 51 (Missouri), Route 51 with Illinois Route 150 across the Mississippi River between Perryville, Missouri and Chester, Illinois. It is the only motor-traffic bridge spa ...

Chester, Illinois Chester is a city in and the county seat of Randolph County, Illinois, United States, on a bluff above the Mississippi River. The population was 6,814 at the 2020 census. It lies south of St. Louis, Missouri. History Founding Samuel Smith is ...

to the northwest.DeLorme. ''Illinois Atlas & Gazetteer''. 6th ed.

Yarmouth Yarmouth may refer to: Places Canada *Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia **Yarmouth, Nova Scotia **Municipality of the District of Yarmouth **Yarmouth (provincial electoral district) **Yarmouth (electoral district) * Yarmouth Township, Ontario *New ...

DeLorme DeLorme is the producer of personal satellite tracking, messaging, and navigation technology. The company’s main product, ''inReach'', integrates GPS and satellite technologies. ''inReach'' provides the ability to send and receive text messages ...

, 2010, 88. . The

Grand Tower Pipeline Bridge The Grand Tower Pipeline Bridge is a suspension bridge carrying a natural gas pipeline across the Mississippi River between Wittenberg, Missouri and Grand Tower, Illinois. Construction Although construction of a natural gas pipeline under the Mis ...

is a natural gas pipeline suspension bridge that carries natural gas from Wittenberg, Missouri to

Grand Tower, Illinois Grand Tower is a city in Jackson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 605 at the 2010 census. The town gets its name from Tower Rock, a landmark island in the Mississippi River. History Former names of this town include ''La To ...

Tower Rock Tower Rock, also known as Grand Tower, is a rock formation and landmark island in the Mississippi River, in Brazeau Township, Perry County, Missouri, near the town of Wittenberg, Missouri, and across the river from Grand Tower, Illinois. It ...

, a landmark island in the Mississippi River, lies within Brazeau Township.

Demographics

2000 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 1,090 people living in the township. The racial makeup of the town was 98.80%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, and 0.80% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

.: 2010 - Population and Housing Unit Counts, 2010 Census of Population and Housing https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/cph-2-27.pdf

2010 census

As of the

of 2010, there were 1,100 people living in the township. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 8.9 people per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 98.80%

, 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, and 0.90% from

References

{{authority control Townships in Perry County, Missouri Townships in Missouri 1821 establishments in Missouri