Wayne County, Missouri Genealogy

United States &gt; Missouri &gt; Wayne County

History


Wayne County, Missouri was organized as a county of Missouri Territory on 11 December 1818 by an act of the territorial legislature. This law became effective 1 November 1813.

The county was created from parts of Cape Girardeau and Lawrence Counties. (Most of Lawrence County became part of Arkansas Territory when that territory was created by Congress in March of 1819.)

Greenville became the county seat in 1819, which was the same year in which the town was incorporated. Missouri was not admitted into the Union until 10 August 1821.

Greenville was originally known as Cedar Cabin. In 1941, the town was relocated because of the construction of Lake Wappapello. The original town site is now located under the lake.

Wayne County comprised a vast area from 1825 to 1831 that is said to have been larger than the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Delaware combined.

The county is named after Revolutionary War General "Mad" Anthony Wayne (1745-1796).

Parent County
1818--Wayne County was created 11 December 1818 from Cape Girardeau County. County seat: Greenville

Record Loss
The Wayne County courthouse burned in 1854 and 1892. In addition, courthouse records were stolen in 1866.

Populated Places
Cascade | Clubb | Coldwater | Greenville | Hiram | Leeper | Lodi | Lowndes | McGee | Mill Spring | Patterson | Piedmont | Shook | Silva | Wappapello | Williamsville

Neighboring Counties

 * Bollinger
 * Butler
 * Carter
 * Iron
 * Madison
 * Reynolds
 * Stoddard

Cemeteries

 * Wayne County Missouri NEW PROSPECT CEMETERY
 * Greenville Cemetery in Wayne, Missouri

Web Sites

 * A Directory of Towns, Villages, and Hamlets Past and Present of Wayne County, Missouri
 * Wayne County, Missouri (GenWeb)
 * Wayne County, Missouri (Wikipedia)
 * Wayne County, Missouri Ancestry &amp; Family History (ePodunk)
 * Wayne County, Missouri History, Records, Facts, Genealogy and Ancestry (Family History 101)
 * Wayne County, Missouri History, Records, Facts, Genealogy and Ancestry (Family History 101)