Missouri History Today

Rev. Isaac McCoy, a Baptist missionary to the Indians, brought his family to western Missouri on this date. His son, John C. McCoy, would first establish Westport, MO and then Kansas City.

The composing room at Concordia Publishing House (on the campus of Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis) was put into operation.

Father Sebastian Meurin was born on this date. He started the first church in St. Louis and performed Missouri’s first marriage in Ste. Genevieve.

12-14 inches of snow fell across southern Missouri on this day.

The Gratiot Street Prison in St. Louis received its first Confederate prisoners.

Street lights burned all day in St. Louis because the smoke was so bad. The Depression was causing everyone to burn wood and cheap coal.

St. Louis was at 16⁄ below zero on this day. Springfield and Columbia were at 20⁄ below.

The very first telegraph was sent to St. Louis. It was sent to the Missouri Republican newspaper from Louisville.

Sacagawea died at Fort Manuel in South Dakota. As promised, Explorer/Governor William Clark took custody of her son, Jean Baptiste and her infant daughter Lisette and raised them in St. Louis.

One of the worst traffic jams in St. Louis history was caused by a blizzard and the last minute Christmas shoppers.