New book from county archives covers records from 1821 to 1854

The Cape Girardeau County Archive has a new publication, "Record of Certain Decrees, Orders and Judgments of the County Court held at the City of Jackson within and for the County of Cape Girardeau in the State of Missouri 1821-1854."

The 382-page book contains 9,043 abstracts of volumes B to G (there is no volume A) of County Court record books. The abstracts were done by Catherine Stoverink, and Bob and Ann Parkinson. Transcripts of volumes C to F were made possible by a grant provided by the office of the Missouri secretary of state's Local Records Program.

The book contains 28 three-column pages of the every name index as well as an action index to facilitate research in the records. The abstracts give the reader insight into everyday life and legal matters from 1821 to 1854 at the county government level.

Topics included are accounts due, appointments to county jobs, apprenticeships/indentures, wolf bounty, census, courthouse and jail maintenance, emancipations, estate proceedings, guardianships, inquests, naturalizations, elections, licenses awarded, bridges, courthouse, ferry rates, negroes, Revolutionary War pension applications, roads, canals, schools, establishments of townships, taxes and welfare.

One interesting tidbit concerns the relocation of the county seat on May 30, 1833, when 754 citizens petitioned the court to move the county seat from Jackson to Cape Girardeau. The Cape Girardeau County Commission is still dealing with many of the same types of issues it dealt with 150 years ago. The books are available only at the Archive Center at 112 E. Washington St. in Jackson.

cpagano@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133