Down to the river's edge ... the historic Green's Ferry Road

By Beverly Hahs

Thomas Parrish Green came to the Missouri Territory in 1817 from Chatham, North Carolina. He was a well known ordained Baptist minister during the time when there was an upsurge of the denomination in Southeast Missouri.

It was March 1818 when he was called to pastor the historic Bethel Baptist Church south of Jackson, a position he kept until 1826 when Elder Benjamin Thompson was called as leader. It was because of Green's due diligence that the old Bethel's minutes were preserved.

Thomas Green was a learned man. Besides spreading the good word, he was instrumental in establishing an academy in Jackson in 1817, as well as libraries and other schools throughout the area.

Soon after floating by keel boat to the territory, Green purchased 640 acres in 1819 from Joseph Waller, "land where the ferry was kept" on the Mississippi north of Cape Girardeau (Survey 2234, Cape County Deed Book D).

As the name changed from Waller's Ferry to Green's Ferry, the road from Jackson to the river landing became Green's Ferry Road. This is the first mention of Green's Ferry in the deed books. Today this area is part of the Trail of Tears State Park (established 1958) and historic Moccasin Springs Landing.

In 1826 the fee paid by Green for a one-year license was $8, which he renewed until 1835 when he and his wife Clarissa moved to St. Louis. He sold the ferry operation to Thompson Smith.

From the Missouri Baptist publication, Aug. 26, 1843, we learn Thomas Green died in St. Louis July 11, 1843, at age 54. Burial was at the Jackson City Cemetery.

Even though Thomas Green was gone, his name stayed attached to the artery by which the Cherokee Indians traveled after traversing the dangerous Mississippi during the years of 1837-39. One need only read publications to learn the abject horror the Cherokees endured during the forced migration of 800 miles from their homeland in the southeast to Oklahoma. Delays were not supposed to have happened; the winter was not supposed to be as severe; and blankets, food, and supplies were not supposed to run out ... however the horrible conditions went against the 17,000 on horseback, in wagons, and on foot. Deaths reached 4,000, including some babies born along the trail.

In January 1839, when the Mississippi ice finally thawed, the weary band waiting in Illinois crossed ferry after ferry. The Indians camped at Moccasin Springs for about two weeks. With the icy wind whistling at their backs, they pressed on to Jackson along the Green's Ferry Road. The Jackson Advertiser newspaper reported a total of 13,000 to 14,000 Cherokees had passed through the county seat. They then camped along Hubble and Byrd's Creek at the "Widow Robert's farm" before making their way out of Cape Girardeau County.

It would be January or late March 1839 before the Indians on the trail of tears reached the Oklahoma territory and the disappointments that awaited them there.