Cinque Hommes is one of the eight

townships A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

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 (effectiv ...

, in the United States of America.

Etymology

Cinque Hommes Township is named after Cape Cinque Hommes on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. The original name was St. Cosme. However, the pronunciation of "St. Cosme" and "Cinque Hommes" is exactly the same in French, and the early Frenchmen who came after father St. Cosme, misunderstanding, called it by the latter name.

History

Cape St. Cosme or Cape Cinque Hommes — a point on the Mississippi River — was conferred for Father Jean Francois Buisson de Saint Cosme (1667-1702), a missionary priest from the Quebec Seminary of Foreign Missions, who visited the spot in 1698 and erected a cross on Grand Tower. Jean St. Cosme was the son of Michael Buisson, a native of Cosme le Vert in the Diocese of Mans in France, and of Susanne Licheraffe. He was ordained a Seminarian priest at the age of twenty-three. Father St. Cosme was stationed first at Tamarois, or Tamaroa, in Illinois, and also labored in Acadia, Louisiana, and among the Natchez Indians in lower Louisiana. He was massacred by a party of the Sitimaches or Chetimacha Indians while descending the Mississippi in 1702. The pronunciations of St. Cosme and Cinque Hommes (French: Five Men) is the same in French, and the early Frenchmen who came after father St. Cosme, misunderstanding, called it by the latter name. There is absolutely no tradition connected with five men, in either French or English. In 1807 the Ste. Genevieve District was divided into six townships: Benton, Bellevue, St. Michaels, Big River, Ste. Genevienve and Cinque Hommes. With Missouri Statehood came the subdivision of the territory into counties. Perry County was organized in 1821. Perry County was divided into 3 townships: Brazeau, including the territory between the Cinque Hommes and Apple Creek; Bois Brule, in the northeast part of the county; and Cinque Hommes in the remainder of the county.

Geography

Cinque Hommes covers an area of 55.5 square miles (143.7km2) and contains one incorporated village ( Biehle), and four unincorporated communities:

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

Millheim Millheim is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Centre County, Pennsylvania, Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 904 at the 2010 United Sta ...

, Schumer Springs, and part of Shakertowne.

Cinque Hommes Creek Cinque Hommes Creek is a tributary of the Mississippi River flowing through Perry County, Missouri. Name The early Colonial French name for the creek was "à la viande" or "with meat". Cinque Hommes Creek was named after Cape Cinque Hommes ...

flows through the township and was also named after Cape Cinque Hommes.

Demographics

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 1,210 people living in the township. The racial makeup of the town was 98.30%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, and 0.80% from other races.

2010 census

As of the

of 2010, there were 1,403 people, 519 households, residing in the township. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

was 25 people per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 98.60%

, 0.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, and 0.80% from other races.City : Cinque Hommes township (MO)

References

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