Jefferson City chosen as Missouri’s permanent seat of government

The act of the federal Legislature that provided for Missouri statehood and a convention to draft a state constitution was approved by President James Monroe on March 6, 1820. In one of the paragraphs it provided that “four entire sections of land be, and the same hereby are, granted to the said state, for the purpose of fixing their seat of government thereon.” The Missouri Constitution authorized by that act was framed and established in June and July 1820.

It directed the General Assembly, at its first session, to appoint five commissioners to select four sections of land which had not been exposed to public sale as the place for the permanent seat of government; but “no place shall be selected which is not situated on the bank of the Missouri River within forty miles of the mouth of the River Osage” (attributed to Jonathan Ramsey, of Callaway County). The legislative body went about its assigned work and Missouri Statute 264, dated Nov. 16, 1820, designated five commissioners: John Thornton, Robert Gory Watson, John B. White, James Logan and Jesse B. Boone. They met at Cote sans Dessein on the first Monday in May to select the site of the Capital City, as directed in the statute with oversight and approval by the Legislature.

The Legislature then set about determining where it would be meeting in the future. Selecting the location for a temporary Capitol proved to be one of the most difficult tasks and consumed as much time as any task that faced that legislative body. The names of existing communities were proposed and defeated in rapid succession. Finally, St. Charles proposed several inducements to the Assembly in the form of a pledge to provide suitable housing for the Assembly and a place to meet, free of charge to the state. Missouri Statute, Chapter 278, dated Nov. 28, 1820, resulted, designating St. Charles as the temporary seat of government until Oct. 1, 1826.

The Legislature went about the business at hand and later passed Missouri Statute, Chapter 321, dated June 28, 1821, which appointed Daniel Morgan Boone, son of Daniel Boone and brother of Jesse B. Boone, as commissioner to fill the vacancy necessitated by the death of Jesse B. Boone.

The commissioners continued their investigations and discovered four fractional sections of public lands “in one body” could be “found” bordering on the river, but few of them were “a suitable and proper situation.” Land of that description could not be found on either bank east of the mouth of the Osage, and very few west of its mouth on the north shore, to include Cote sans Dessein.

On the south bank above the mouth of the Osage, up to 15 miles, there are only four natural openings suitable for use as access to the river. About 4 miles above the mouth of the Osage is what eventually became known as Ewing’s Landing. It was a small opening, but already tied up with land claims. Farther up the river was a wide, marshy opening to the river in the Gray’s Creek area, which was deemed unsuitable. Finally, about 5 miles farther upriver was Marion, later designated as the county seat of Cole County and commonly referred to at the time as Howard’s Bluff. Again, prior land claims in that area precluded it from consideration.

The commissioners reported to the Legislature

in June 1821 that they had selected 4 square miles of contiguous land in various sections at the least desirable location. That now is the site of the City of Jefferson. Missouri Statute, Chapter 326, dated June 28, 1821, indicated that the surveyor and registrar shall withhold those lands from sale. Strong objections arose from the Legislature demanding instead the site at Cote sans Dessein.

The final selection of the site was delayed until the November session. The commissioners did not withdraw from their earlier recommendation. The capitol site continued to receive consideration; but finally, Missouri Statute, Chapter 351, dated Dec. 31, 1821, reiterated and affirmed those selected lands to become the Missouri’s permanent seat of government.

Missouri Statute, Chapter 365, dated Jan. 11, 1822, contained the general specifications for the “City of Jefferson” and indicated commissioners would superintend meetings with surveyors and the laying out of the town. It also made provisions for the removal or condemnation of the existing DeLisle New Madrid claim within the selected lands by the commissioners.

Missouri Statute, Chapter 446, dated Dec. 19, 1822, appointed Josiah Ramsey Jr., John C. Gordon and Adam Hope as commissioners and set forth the manner in which the business of the construction of the city would be conducted.

Missouri statehood was granted after much deliberation by the federal Legislature and was admitted as a slave state on Aug. 10, 1821, with Maine admitted as a free state under the provisions of the Missouri Compromise of 1820.

Wayne Johnson is a Jefferson City native and retired engineer and chemist. For the past two decades he has worked with four local historical societies, setting up websites, digital imaging, search and retrieval of those images, and compiling brief general histories of people, places and events in Callaway and Cole counties’ early history.