TRACING THE ROOTS - MILLER COUNTY'S EARLY HISTORY

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​Miller County is in the central part of Missouri, bounded on the north by Morgan, Moniteau and Cole; east by Cole, Osage, and Maries; south by Pulaski and Camden; and west by Camden and Morgan counties; area 380,000 acres.

The territory now comprising Miller County was a hunting ground of the Osage Indians. As late as 1822, they had a village on Tavern Creek, near the mouth of Barren Fork. About the beginning of the century adventurous hunters and trappers visited the country, and later traders followed in their footsteps. Along the Osage was a well-worn trail, and along this the pioneers wended their way. It is not known that any of the early hunters in the territory became permanent settlers. The first white man to make his home in the county, according to the most reliable authorities, was Seneca R. Y. Day, who settled near the mouth of Tavern Creek in 1815.

Miller County territory was included in Cole County when the latter was organized in 1820, and remained so until February 6, 1837, when the legislative act creating Miller County out of the southern part of Cole County was approved. The county was named in honor of John Miller, who was Governor of Missouri, 1826-28.

There were no schools in the county until after 1830. The report of the school superintendents in 1899 showed the number of public schools in the county as eighty-six.

During the Civil War, Miller County supplied about 1, 000 men to both side, about 700 serving on the Federal side and the remainder on the Southern, mostly under General Parsons. There was considerable bushwhacking, a little skirmishing, but no regular engagements within its limits. The county quickly recovered from the effects of the war soon after peace was declared.

 

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