John Smith Phelps (1814–1886) was a prominent Missouri statesman, lawyer, and Civil War veteran. Born on December 22, 1814, in Simsbury, Connecticut, he moved to Springfield, Missouri, in the 1830s, where he established a successful legal practice. Phelps served as a U.S. Congressman from Missouri for 18 years (1845–1863), gaining a reputation as a moderate …
Missouri History Today August 28, 1820: Clark Falls To McNair As State’s First Governor
Republican Governor Herbert Spencer Hadley proposed that prisoners in county jails be permitted to work on the new cross-state highways in exchange for shortened jail sentences. Hadley served one term was Missouri’s 32nd governor (1909 to 1913).
It all began with the bargain of the century. A savvy deal negotiated between France and the United States more than two hundred years ago would set the stage for the first major challenge of this young nation in the New World.
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