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30-928: Benjamin Burch was born in Chariton County, Missouri , on May 2, 1825, to Samuel Burch and Eleanor ( née Lock) Burch. In 1845, he crossed the Great Plains on the Oregon Trail bound for the Oregon Country . He settled in what became Polk County in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. At the time it was under the authority of the Provisional Government of Oregon , and in 1848 became the Oregon Territory . In 1846, he helped Jesse Applegate and Levi Scott build

60-757: A Democrat during a four-year term. During the 1868 legislature he served as President of the Senate . In 1877, he became the Superintendent of the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem by appointment of Governor Stephen F. Chadwick , serving two terms. He was appointed as the receiver at the Oregon City Land Office in 1887 by President Grover Cleveland . Benjamin Franklin Burch died on March 24, 1893, at

90-399: A sphere outside white supervision. In Little Dixie in the early 20th century, of the counties with the largest black populations, Callaway County at one time had twenty-eight African American schools; Boone, eighteen; Howard, sixteen; Cooper, twenty-six; Chariton, fourteen; Lafayette, twenty; Saline, eighteen. Although the number of schools decreased as rural black communities dissolved with

120-494: A wide variety of uses. Many have survived. In addition, schools were often started in black churches or chapels, many of which still stand. As a result of the study, the state recommended numerous African-American schools for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places . Continuing demographic changes throughout the 20th century have resulted in a decrease in the number and proportion of African Americans in most of

150-557: The Applegate Trail , a route to the valley through Southern Oregon . Burch then returned to his home where he had tutored Applegate's children before becoming a teacher at the first school in the county. After the breakout of the Cayuse War in 1847, he volunteered for the militia and served as an adjutant . Following the war, on September 6, 1848, he married Kentucky native Eliza A. Davidson who had immigrated to Oregon from Illinois

180-590: The Missouri Senate and is currently represented by Cindy O'Laughlin (R- Shelbina ). All of Chariton County is included in Missouri's 6th Congressional District and is currently represented by Sam Graves (R- Tarkio ) in the U.S. House of Representatives . Former U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton (D- New York ) received more votes, a total of 786, than any candidate from either party in Chariton County during

210-515: The 2008 presidential primary. She also received more votes than the total number of votes cast in the entire Republican primary in Chariton County. 39°31′N 92°58′W  /  39.52°N 92.96°W  / 39.52; -92.96 Little Dixie (Missouri) Little Dixie is a historic 13- to 17-county region along the Missouri River in central Missouri , United States. Its early Anglo-American settlers were largely migrants from

240-585: The Civil War, the slaves were emancipated. The Reconstruction-era legislature established free public education for all citizens for the first time. While whites insisted that schools be segregated, the legislature required that all townships with 20 or more black children of student age had to establish schools. By 1870, of the former slave states, Missouri had the "largest proportion of schools for negro children." Black communities rapidly established independent churches and schools to express their own culture and create

270-679: The Missouri River to St. Louis , and down the Mississippi to New Orleans . Cotton was exported to Britain, or shipped north to textile mills in New York and New England. In Howard County , developed along the river for plantations, planters named their large estates in the Southern style, such as Greenwood, Redstone, Oakwood and Sylvan Villa. On these plantations, slave populations ranged between 15 and 70 people; they cultivated acreage of 500 acres (2 km ) to 2000 acres (8 km ), or more. After

300-541: The South in this period. In 1890 in the traditional seven counties of Little Dixie, the black population totaled 45,000. It increased into the early 20th century. In the "nadir" period, there were 13 lynchings of black men in total in Boone, Howard, Monroe, Pike, and Randolph counties. This number represented 16 percent of the total lynchings in the state during this period, whereas these seven counties contained less than 6 percent of

330-428: The age of 18 living with them, 58.30% were married couples living together, 6.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.40% were non-families. 29.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.94. In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.70% under

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360-467: The age of 18, 6.50% from 18 to 24, 23.70% from 25 to 44, 23.80% from 45 to 64, and 22.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 91.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.30 males. The median income for a household in the county was $ 32,285, and the median income for a family was $ 39,176. Males had a median income of $ 25,263 versus $ 19,068 for females. The per capita income for

390-466: The age of 67 at his farm near Independence . Chariton County, Missouri Chariton County is a county located in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Missouri . As of the 2020 census , the population was 7,408. Its county seat is Keytesville . The county was organized November 16, 1820, from part of Howard County and is named for the Chariton River . Chariton County

420-633: The antebellum "Little Dixie" region as a 13-county area between the Mississippi River north of St. Louis to Missouri River counties in the central part of the state (Audrain, Boone, Callaway, Chariton, Howard, Lincoln, Pike, Marion, Monroe, Ralls, Randolph, Saline, and Shelby counties). When the Southerners migrated to Missouri, they brought their cultural, social, agricultural, architectural, political and economic practices, including slavery. Overall, Missouri's slave population represented 10 percent of

450-458: The county was $ 15,515. About 8.80% of families and 11.60% of the population were below the poverty line , including 11.40% of those under age 18 and 14.00% of those age 65 or over. School districts include: Chariton County is split between two districts in the Missouri House of Representatives , with both electing Republicans. All of Chariton County is a part of Missouri's 18th District in

480-607: The county. The population density was 11 people per square mile (4.2 people/km ). There were 4,250 housing units at an average density of 6 units per square mile (2.3/km ). The racial makeup of the county was 95.99% White , 3.19% Black or African American , 0.17% Native American , 0.13% Asian , 0.11% from other races , and 0.41% from two or more races. Approximately 0.56% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 38.8% were of German , 25.5% American , 9.7% English and 7.8% Irish ancestry. There were 3,469 households, out of which 28.40% had children under

510-525: The hemp and tobacco districts of Virginia , Kentucky , and Tennessee . They brought enslaved African Americans with them or purchased them as workers in the region. Because Southerners settled there first, the pre-Civil War culture of the region was similar to that of the Upper South . The area was also known as Boonslick country . A 1948 article in the Missouri Historical Review defined

540-462: The historic structures, identifying those that were unique architecturally. It also captured the stories of people associated with them. The team conducted many oral interviews with former students, teachers, administrators and members of the communities to learn about their communities during the Jim Crow era. Because many of the former rural schools consisted of just one room, they have been adapted for

570-528: The history of slavery, the rural economy after the war, and white efforts to establish dominance in resulting race relations. In the late 19th-century white Democrats throughout the South sought to reimpose and maintain white supremacy . Between 1889 and 1919, a period that is considered the "nadir of racial relations" in the United States, Southern states disenfranchised most blacks through new constitutions and amendments. Lynchings of black men were numerous in

600-606: The onslaught of the Depression and the economic opportunity of the New Deal , in 1933 these same counties still had the highest number of black schools outside of St. Louis and the Bootheel . In keeping with competition and fears among whites, they exercised a higher frequency of mob violence against blacks and lynchings of African Americans in this region than in other parts of the state. The pattern appears to be strongly associated with

630-534: The region's complex history, including after the Civil War, are also being studied and preserved. Beginning in 1998, the State Historic Preservation Office (of the Department of Natural Resources), conducted a survey to identify the remaining historic African-American schools in the 15 counties of Little Dixie; this survey was extended throughout the state and lasted until 2002. The study documented

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660-590: The region. While definitions of the counties included in Little Dixie vary, in 1860 seven counties were developed primarily for plantations, and their populations consisted of 25 percent or more enslaved African Americans: The only other county of the state where the enslaved population was as high in 1860 was New Madrid in the Bootheel, a region in the southern part of the state along the Mississippi River that

690-452: The state's population in the 1860 U.S. Census . But in Little Dixie, county and township slave populations ranged from 20 to 50 percent by 1860, with the highest percentages for the counties developed for large plantations along the Missouri river. New Madrid County , along the Mississippi River south of St. Louis, also had a high percentage of enslaved Africans, but was not considered part of

720-561: The state's total population. African Americans comprised slightly more than 50 percent of the victims of lynching in other parts of Missouri. In these seven counties, more than 90 percent of lynch victims were black, and they were overwhelmingly men. Mechanization of farms decreased the need for farm labor beginning in the early 20th century. African Americans left the region in the Great Migration for northern and midwestern industrial cities, including St. Louis. They also sought to escape

750-809: The violence and social oppression. The United States Supreme Court ruling of Brown v. Board of Education (1954) declared segregated public schools to be unconstitutional, but integration of schools was slow in many areas of the South and Missouri. After integration, some former black schools were closed and adapted for new uses; others were in too poor condition to be used. The Little Dixie Conference, an athletic conference for high schools in Callaway, Audrain, and Boone counties, operated from 1952 to 2006. In many parts of Little Dixie, some antebellum plantation homes still stand today. Many people participate in heritage tourism and historic projects to preserve these structures and other aspects of this era. Other aspects of

780-709: The year before. They had seven children, including Benjamin, Jr. During the Yakima War in 1856 Burch served as a captain of a company of militia. In 1857, he was elected to represent Polk County in the Oregon Constitutional Convention held in Oregon in August and September. At the convention he was part of a special committee with James K. Kelly and La Fayette Grover that designed the Oregon State Seal . Burch

810-672: Was also a member of the Military Affairs Committee. In 1858, he was elected to the first session of the state legislature as a Democrat representing Polk County in the Oregon House of Representatives . Oregon was still waiting to be admitted to the Union, and the legislature did not officially convene until 1859. Burch remained out of politics until 1868 when he was elected to the Oregon State Senate . He represented Polk County as

840-459: Was at its heart. It was heavily pro- Confederate during the American Civil War . According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 767 square miles (1,990 km ), of which 751 square miles (1,950 km ) is land and 16 square miles (41 km ) (2.0%) is water. As of the census of 2000, there were 8,438 people, 3,469 households, and 2,345 families residing in

870-671: Was devoted to cotton plantations . The Missouri Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans defines the "heart" of Little Dixie as having consisted of the following counties: The major cash crop was hemp . In Lafayette County , locals declared hemp as king and dedicated all agricultural production to it, while foregoing necessary food production. In addition, planters in "Outer Little Dixie" counties, such as Platte , Howard , Chariton and Ralls , grew millions of pounds of tobacco on large plantations with 20 or more slaves. Some farmers and planters grew cotton and sent their surplus down

900-603: Was settled primarily from the states of the Upper South , especially Kentucky and Tennessee . They brought slaves and slaveholding traditions with them, and they quickly started cultivating crops similar to those in Middle Tennessee and Kentucky: hemp and tobacco . Chariton was one of several counties settled mostly by southerners to the north and south of the Missouri River . Given their culture and traditions, this area became known as Little Dixie and Chariton County

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