Scotland County, Missouri

Scotland County is a county in northeastern Missouri. As of the 2020 census, its population was 4,716, making it Missouri's seventh-least populous county. Its county seat is Memphis. The county was organized on January 29, 1841, and named for the country of Scotland.

History

The Missouri General Assembly organized Scotland County on January 29, 1841. At first its boundaries contained all the land now known as Knox County as well, but in 1843 the General Assembly divided it off. Stephen W. B. Carnegy suggested that the county be named after his native Scotland. He also gave several settlements in the area Scottish names.

The first white settlement in Scotland County was in 1833 by brothers Levi and George Rhodes and their families near a location known as Sand Hill. Sand Hill was in the southern part of the county, about 12 miles from present-day Memphis. A general store was opened there around 1835 by James l. Jones, who also served as Scotland County's first sheriff.

Slavery, while never as prevalent in Scotland County as in other counties further south in the state's Little Dixie region, existed from the county's earliest days. Robert T. Smith brought the first slaves, a group of three, to the county in 1834. In 1850 Scotland County had 157 slaves or other "non-free people of color", but by the 1860 census that number had dropped to 131.

Farming was Scotland County's primary economic lifeblood from its earliest times. Once the stands of timber were cleared and the tough prairie grass plowed aside, settlers found rich soil. Between 1850 and 1880 the number of farms in the county grew from 334 to 1,994. The value of the farmland, in 1880 dollars, was over $3.72 million. Corn was the major cash crop, followed by oats, wheat, and potatoes.

The Civil War

Scotland County was the scene of three notable engagements during the American Civil War. The first happened at Etna on July 21, 1861. The 1st Northeast Missouri Home Guards under Colonel David Moore with assistance from additional units from Iowa and Illinois attacked pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard (MSG) forces using Etna as a training and resupply point. The action was part of General Nathaniel Lyon's efforts to clear "rebels" from rural Missouri. After a brief battle the MSG forces, mostly lightly armed cavalry, were driven from the town and surrounding areas of Scotland County and Moore's unit returned to its main base at Athens, Missouri.

On July 13, 1862, Confederate Colonel Joseph C. Porter approached Memphis in four converging columns totaling 125–169 men and captured it with little or no resistance. They first raided the federal armory, seizing about 100 muskets with cartridge boxes and ammunition, and several uniforms. The Confederates rounded up all adult men, who were taken to the courthouse to swear not to divulge any information about the raiders for 48 hours. Porter freed all militiamen and suspected militiamen to await parole, a fact noted by champions of his character. Citizens expressed their sympathies variously; Porter gave safe passage to a physician, an admitted Union supporter, who was anxious to return to his seriously ill wife. One of Porter's troops threatened a verbally abusive woman with a pistol, perhaps as a bluff. Porter's troops entered the courthouse and destroyed all indictments for horse theft, an act variously understood as simple lawlessness, intervention on behalf of criminal associates, or interference with politically motivated, fraudulent charges.

At Memphis, a key incident occurred that darkened Porter's reputation, and which his detractors see as part of a behavioral pattern that put him and his men beyond the norms of warfare. According to the ''History of Shelby County'', which is generally sympathetic to Porter, "Most conceded that Col. Porter’s purpose for capturing Memphis, MO. was to seize Dr. Wm. Aylward, a prominent Union man of the community." Aylward was captured during the day by Captain Tom Stacy's men and confined to a house. Stacy was generally regarded as a genuine bushwhacker; other members of Porter's command called his company "the chain gang" due to its behavior. After rousing Aylward overnight and removing him from his home, ostensibly to see Porter, guards claimed that he escaped. But witnesses reported hearing the sounds of a strangling, and his body was found the next day with marks consistent with hanging or strangulation. Supporters of Porter attribute Aylward's murder to Stacy. But a Union gentleman who came to inquire about Aylward and a captured officer before the discovery of the body said that when he asked Porter about Aylward, the response was, "He is where he will never disturb anybody else."

The next engagement in the county took place on July 18, 1862. Union Colonel (later General) John McNeil had been pursuing Porter and his forces across northeast Missouri for some time. Hearing of the capture of Memphis, McNeil sent a detachment of three companies (C, H, and I), about 300 men, of Merrill's Horse under Major John Y. Clopper from Newark, Missouri, to rescue the town.Moore, Frank, ''The Rebellion Record, Fifth Volume'', G.P. Putnam, 1868, page 558, from "The Fight near Memphis, Mo." in the ''Missouri Democrat'' Porter and his Confederate forces, their strength estimated at anywhere between 125 men to 600, planned to ambush the Federals. This became known as the Battle of Vassar Hill in the ''History of Scotland County.'' Porter called it Oak Ridge, and Federal forces called it Pierce's Mill. By whatever name, it happened about ten miles southwest of Memphis on the south fork of the Middle Fabius River.

Porter's men were concealed in brush and stayed low when the Federals stopped to fire before each charge. Porter's men held their fire until the range was very short, increasing the volley's lethality. Clopper was in the Federal front, and of 21 men of his advance guard, all but one were killed or wounded.''The History of Shelby Country'', page 744 The Federals made at least seven mounted charges, doing little but adding to the body count. A battalion of roughly 100 men of the 11th Missouri State Militia Cavalry under Major Rogers arrived and dismounted. Clopper claimed to have driven the enemy from the field after this, but eyewitness Joseph Mudd said the Union troops fell back and ended the engagement, leaving Porter in possession of the field until he withdrew. Clopper's reputation suffered as a result of his poor tactics. Before the final charge, one company officer angrily asked, "Why don't you dismount those men and stop murdering them?" Union casualties were about 24 dead and mortally wounded (10 from Merrill's Horse and 14 from the 11th MSM Cavalry), and perhaps 59 wounded (24 from Merrill's Horse, and 35 from the 11th MSM Cavalry.) Porter's loss was as little as three killed and five wounded according to Mudd, or six killed, three mortally wounded, and 10 wounded left on the field according to the Shelby County History.

Postwar to present

In the 1880s, a group called The Tax-payers' Association of Scotland County formed to resist paying local taxes and intimidate any potential bidders on horses and mules that had been seized to cover those taxes. The handling of county debt collection went to the Supreme Court in '' Findlay v. McAllister''.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of , of which is land and (0.6%) is water. Scotland County borders Iowa to the north.

Adjacent counties

* Davis County, Iowa (northwest)
* Van Buren County, Iowa (northeast)
* Clark County (east)
* Knox County (south)
* Adair County (southwest)
* Schuyler County (west)

Major highways

* U.S. Route 136
* Route 15

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 4,843 people, 1,902 households, and 1,302 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 2,292 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.82% White, 0.20% Black or African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.08% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.16% from other races, and 0.58% from two or more races. Approximately 0.84% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. In the county, 5.72% report speaking Pennsylvania German, Dutch, or German at home, while 1.58% speak Spanish.

There were 1,902 households, of which 32.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.20% were married couples living together, 7.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.50% were non-families. 28.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.16.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 28.60% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 24.10% from 25 to 44, 20.80% from 45 to 64, and 19.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 94.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $27,409, and the median income for a family was $33,529. Males had a median income of $23,836 versus $16,866 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,474. About 13.40% of families and 16.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.70% of those under age 18 and 13.50% of those age 65 or over.

2020 Census

Education

School districts in the county, including those with any territory, no matter how slight: Scotland County R-I School District, Knox County R-I School District, and Schuyler County R-I School District.

Previously an elementary school district, Gorin R-III School District, had territory in the county. The Gorin district closed on July 1, 2015 and consolidated into the Scotland County R-1 district.

Public schools

One of the school districts operates schools in the county limits:
Scotland County R-I School District
– Memphis
**Scotland County Elementary School (PK-06)
**Scotland County High School (07-12)

Public libraries

* Scotland County Memorial Library

Communities

Cities

* Memphis (county seat)
* South Gorin

Villages

* Arbela
* Granger
* Rutledge

Unincorporated communities

* Azen
* Bible Grove
* Brock
* Crawford
* Edinburg
*Energy
* Etna
* Hitt
*Kilwinning
* Middle Fabius
* Pleasant Retreat
* Prospect Grove
* Sand Hill
* Unity

Notable people

* Ella Ewing, world's tallest woman (in her era), lived much of her life (and died) near Gorin. Buried in the Harmony Grove church cemetery in Rutledge, MO.
* Alexandre Hogue, realist painter, known mostly for landscapes.
*Tom Horn, Old West lawman, scout, outlaw and assassin, born near Granger in 1860.
* George Saling, gold medal winner at the 1932 Summer Olympics, 110m hurdles.
* Adrienne Wilkinson, TV, film and voiceover actress. Notable roles on '' Xena: Warrior Princess'' and '' As If''.
* Sedona Schnebly, an Arizona pioneer and namesake of Sedona, Arizona, born in Gorin.

Politics

Local

The Democratic Party controls politics at the local level in Scotland County. Democrats hold all but five of the elected positions in the county.

State

Scotland County is in Missouri's 4th District in the Missouri House of Representatives and is represented by
Craig Redmon
(R- Canton).

Scotland County is a part of Missouri's 18th District in the Missouri Senate and is represented b
Brian Munzlinger
(R- Williamstown).

Federal

Scotland County is in Missouri's 6th Congressional District and is represented by Sam Graves (R- Tarkio) in the U.S. House of Representatives.

See also

* National Register of Historic Places listings in Scotland County, Missouri

References

External links

Rootsweb for Scotland County, MissouriMemphis Area Chamber of Commerce


from University of Missouri Division of Special Collections, Archives, and Rare Books

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1841 establishments in Missouri
Populated places established in 1841