Cass County, Missouri
Encyclopedia
Cass County is a county located in the U.S. state
of Missouri
. As of 2010, the population was 99,478. Its county seat
is Harrisonville. The county was organized in 1835 as "Van Buren County", renamed in 1848 after Michigan
U.S. Senator and presidential candidate
Lewis Cass
.
Cass is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area
of 2000, there were 82,092 people, 30,168 households, and 22,988 families residing in the county. The population density
was 117 people per square mile (45/km²). There were 31,677 housing units at an average density of 45 per square mile (18/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.62% White, 1.42% Black or African American, 0.58% Native American, 0.48% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.50% from other races, and 1.35% from two or more races. 2.21% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. (See also Race (United States Census)
)
There were 30,168 households out of which 38.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.60% were married couples
living together, 9.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.80% were non-families. 20.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.09.
In the county the population was spread out with 28.40% under the age of 18, 7.30% from 18 to 24, 30.20% from 25 to 44, 22.30% from 45 to 64, and 11.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.90 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $49,562, and the median income for a family was $55,258. Males had a median income of $39,001 versus $26,174 for females. The per capita income
for the county was $21,073. About 4.20% of families and 5.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.00% of those under age 18 and 5.20% of those age 65 or over.
, Quapaw
, Omaha
, Ponca
and Kansa
tribes comprise this subgroup.
The Kansa tribal range extended southward from the Kansas-Missouri River junction as far as the northern edge of Bates County, Missouri, taking in the sites of modern Pleasant Hill, Garden City, Archie and Drexel. On their southeastern border they were neighbors of the Osage, although there is no evidence that either of these tribes ever had a truly permanent settlement in the territory of Cass County.
At early camp meetings southwest of Harrisonville after Americans came, as many as five hundred Indians were often in attendance and seemed to enjoy religious services as much as the whites, with whom they mingled on such occasions. These Indians were reportedly Shawnee
s and Delawares
, both of Algonquian
linguistic stock.
In 1818 a grant of land in southern Missouri was made to some Delawares, but it was re-ceded by them in 1825, and most of them moved to a reservation in Kansas, while others had previously gone to Texas. Those who remained in the Harrisonville area were close relatives of the Sauk, Fox and Kickapoo tribes.
The first American settler on the site of modern Harrisonville was James Lackey, in 1830. Others early settlers were Humphrey Hunt, John Blythe and Dr. Joseph Hudspeth. Lackey was considered a "squatter", as he built a cabin and enclosed a small field on the tract of public land taken for county seat purposes.
Site of the town was fixed under an act of the Missouri General Assembly in 1835, by David Waldo of Lafayette County and Samual Hink and William Brown, both of Jackson County. In the same year, the first court met for the county, known as Van Buren County. The Justices James McClellan and William Savage, met in McClellan's residence about three miles (5 km) southeast of Peculiar on September 14, 1835. William Lyon was appointed clerk of the court and county government was organized , included the setting up of Grand River Township.
In the spring of 1837 the town of Harrisonville was located by Enoch Rice, Francis Prine and Welcome Scott, who had been appointed commissioners by the state legislature in the winter of 1836. These commissioners in company with Matin Rice, the county surveyor, met at the home of John Cook on April 3, 1837 and finally decided on Lackey's pre-emption claim. In May they laid off the town in lots 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the northeast and northwest quarters of Section 4, Township 44N., Range 31W. Within these 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) there were to be four streets: Wall and Pearl running east to west, Lexington and Independence going north and south, each less than forty feet wide. Fleming Harris was appointed as town commissioner on April 8, 1837. The first town lots were sold on June 12 of that year; those facing the public square sold at $20 each, the others at $10.
"Democrat" was strongly urged as a name for the new town but was finally rejected. Instead, the town was named after Albert G. Harrison, a U.S. representative from Missouri.
On October 8, 1835 the first Harrisonville church was organized in the county two miles southwest of town known as Hopewell or New Hope Baptist.
The first house within the town was erected by Jason L. Dickey in 1836.
The first jail in Harrisonville and second for the county was established in 1838. Its site was 312 S. Independence. One of its successors is listed among the state's historic sites.
Harrisonville eventually was served by railroad lines presently known as the Missouri Pacific and the Frisco. Railroad construction was responsible for the notorious "Gunn City Massacre", the background of which began in 1857. Cass County approved a large stock subscription for the Pacific Railroad Company. This corporation later surrendered the bonds to the new Saint Louis and Santa Fe Railroad, from whence they were still later assigned to the Land Grant Railroad & Construction Company of New York. Citizens of Cass County sought by injunction to prevent the funding of these bonds, but by legal maneuvering and collusion, a new set of bonds was issued secretly. Basically the outraged populace viewed this development as a sophisticated maneuver to benefit the holders of bonds that had become worthless by re-obligating the county to pay those same bonds. Three men who helped to perpetrate this swindle, including the county attorney and a judge of the county court, were shot and killed on April 24, 1872 while on board a Katy railroad spur between Bryson, Missouri and Paola, Kansas (in or near what is now known as Gunn City). Forty-one men were arrested and brought to trial for these killings, but there were no convictions. At the time of the shootings, a Republican newspaper, belonging to Mr. Porter J. Coston, in Harrisonville, Missouri, was burned by the same mob.
The year before the Civil War, twelve cities in Missouri had population of approx. 2500 or more. Harrisonville ranked 37th with a population of 675. In 1863 the town was depopulated, and most of the buildings burned, the jail among them . Fort Harrisonville was a Union stronghold for a brief period in 1863 and provided protection for loyal Union families.
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. As of 2010, the population was 99,478. Its county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
is Harrisonville. The county was organized in 1835 as "Van Buren County", renamed in 1848 after Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
U.S. Senator and presidential candidate
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Lewis Cass
Lewis Cass
Lewis Cass was an American military officer and politician. During his long political career, Cass served as a governor of the Michigan Territory, an American ambassador, a U.S. Senator representing Michigan, and co-founder as well as first Masonic Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Michigan...
.
Cass is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area
Kansas City Metropolitan Area
The Kansas City Metropolitan Area is a fifteen-county metropolitan area that is anchored by Kansas City, Missouri and is bisected by the border between the states of Missouri and Kansas. As of the 2010 Census, the metropolitan area has a population of 2,035,334. The metropolitan area is the...
Geography
According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 702.67 square miles (1,819.9 km²), of which 698.99 square miles (1,810.4 km²) (or 99.48%) is land and 3.68 square miles (9.5 km²) (or 0.52%) is water.Adjacent counties
- Jackson CountyJackson County, MissouriJackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. With a population of 674,158 in the 2010 census, Jackson County is the second most populous of Missouri's counties, after St. Louis County. Kansas City, the state's most populous city and focus city of the Kansas City Metropolitan...
(north) - Johnson CountyJohnson County, MissouriJohnson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2010, the population was 52,595. Its county seat is Warrensburg. The county was formed 13 December 1834 from Lafayette County and was named for Vice President Richard M...
(east) - Henry CountyHenry County, MissouriHenry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2000, the population was 21,997. Its county seat is Clinton. The county was organized in 1835 as Rives County, and renamed in 1841 after the American patriot Patrick Henry, of Virginia. The county was originally named after...
(southeast) - Bates CountyBates County, MissouriBates County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2000, the population is 16,653. Its county seat is Butler. The county was organized in 1833 and named after Frederick Bates, the second governor of Missouri....
(south) - Miami County, KansasMiami County, KansasMiami County is a county located in East Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 32,787. Its county seat and most populous city is Paola...
(west) - Johnson County, KansasJohnson County, KansasJohnson County is a county located in northeast Kansas, in the central United States. The county is largely suburban, being part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, and containing many of its affluent southwestern suburbs. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 544,179. Its county...
(northwest)
Major highways
U.S. Route 71
Route 2
Route 7
Route 58
Route 291
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 82,092 people, 30,168 households, and 22,988 families residing in the county. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 117 people per square mile (45/km²). There were 31,677 housing units at an average density of 45 per square mile (18/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.62% White, 1.42% Black or African American, 0.58% Native American, 0.48% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.50% from other races, and 1.35% from two or more races. 2.21% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. (See also Race (United States Census)
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
)
There were 30,168 households out of which 38.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.60% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 9.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.80% were non-families. 20.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.09.
In the county the population was spread out with 28.40% under the age of 18, 7.30% from 18 to 24, 30.20% from 25 to 44, 22.30% from 45 to 64, and 11.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.90 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $49,562, and the median income for a family was $55,258. Males had a median income of $39,001 versus $26,174 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the county was $21,073. About 4.20% of families and 5.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.00% of those under age 18 and 5.20% of those age 65 or over.
History
The Harrisonville area was originally inhabited by the "Dhegilha" Indians subgroup. Being of Siouan linguistic stock, the OsageOsage Nation
The Osage Nation is a Native American Siouan-language tribe in the United States that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, the Osage migrated west of the Mississippi River to their historic lands in present-day Arkansas, Missouri,...
, Quapaw
Quapaw
The Quapaw people are a tribe of Native Americans who historically resided on the west side of the Mississippi River in what is now the state of Arkansas.They are federally recognized as the Quapaw Tribe of Indians.-Government:...
, Omaha
Omaha (tribe)
The Omaha are a federally recognized Native American nation which lives on the Omaha Reservation in northeastern Nebraska and western Iowa, United States...
, Ponca
Ponca
The Ponca are a Native American people of the Dhegihan branch of the Siouan-language group. There are two federally recognized Ponca tribes: the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma...
and Kansa
Kaw (tribe)
The Kaw Nation are an American Indian people of the central Midwestern United States. The tribe known as Kaw have also been known as the "People of the South wind", "People of water", Kansa, Kaza, Kosa, and Kasa. Their tribal language is Kansa, classified as a Siouan language.The toponym "Kansas"...
tribes comprise this subgroup.
The Kansa tribal range extended southward from the Kansas-Missouri River junction as far as the northern edge of Bates County, Missouri, taking in the sites of modern Pleasant Hill, Garden City, Archie and Drexel. On their southeastern border they were neighbors of the Osage, although there is no evidence that either of these tribes ever had a truly permanent settlement in the territory of Cass County.
At early camp meetings southwest of Harrisonville after Americans came, as many as five hundred Indians were often in attendance and seemed to enjoy religious services as much as the whites, with whom they mingled on such occasions. These Indians were reportedly Shawnee
Shawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
s and Delawares
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
, both of Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
linguistic stock.
In 1818 a grant of land in southern Missouri was made to some Delawares, but it was re-ceded by them in 1825, and most of them moved to a reservation in Kansas, while others had previously gone to Texas. Those who remained in the Harrisonville area were close relatives of the Sauk, Fox and Kickapoo tribes.
The first American settler on the site of modern Harrisonville was James Lackey, in 1830. Others early settlers were Humphrey Hunt, John Blythe and Dr. Joseph Hudspeth. Lackey was considered a "squatter", as he built a cabin and enclosed a small field on the tract of public land taken for county seat purposes.
Site of the town was fixed under an act of the Missouri General Assembly in 1835, by David Waldo of Lafayette County and Samual Hink and William Brown, both of Jackson County. In the same year, the first court met for the county, known as Van Buren County. The Justices James McClellan and William Savage, met in McClellan's residence about three miles (5 km) southeast of Peculiar on September 14, 1835. William Lyon was appointed clerk of the court and county government was organized , included the setting up of Grand River Township.
In the spring of 1837 the town of Harrisonville was located by Enoch Rice, Francis Prine and Welcome Scott, who had been appointed commissioners by the state legislature in the winter of 1836. These commissioners in company with Matin Rice, the county surveyor, met at the home of John Cook on April 3, 1837 and finally decided on Lackey's pre-emption claim. In May they laid off the town in lots 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the northeast and northwest quarters of Section 4, Township 44N., Range 31W. Within these 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) there were to be four streets: Wall and Pearl running east to west, Lexington and Independence going north and south, each less than forty feet wide. Fleming Harris was appointed as town commissioner on April 8, 1837. The first town lots were sold on June 12 of that year; those facing the public square sold at $20 each, the others at $10.
"Democrat" was strongly urged as a name for the new town but was finally rejected. Instead, the town was named after Albert G. Harrison, a U.S. representative from Missouri.
On October 8, 1835 the first Harrisonville church was organized in the county two miles southwest of town known as Hopewell or New Hope Baptist.
The first house within the town was erected by Jason L. Dickey in 1836.
The first jail in Harrisonville and second for the county was established in 1838. Its site was 312 S. Independence. One of its successors is listed among the state's historic sites.
Harrisonville eventually was served by railroad lines presently known as the Missouri Pacific and the Frisco. Railroad construction was responsible for the notorious "Gunn City Massacre", the background of which began in 1857. Cass County approved a large stock subscription for the Pacific Railroad Company. This corporation later surrendered the bonds to the new Saint Louis and Santa Fe Railroad, from whence they were still later assigned to the Land Grant Railroad & Construction Company of New York. Citizens of Cass County sought by injunction to prevent the funding of these bonds, but by legal maneuvering and collusion, a new set of bonds was issued secretly. Basically the outraged populace viewed this development as a sophisticated maneuver to benefit the holders of bonds that had become worthless by re-obligating the county to pay those same bonds. Three men who helped to perpetrate this swindle, including the county attorney and a judge of the county court, were shot and killed on April 24, 1872 while on board a Katy railroad spur between Bryson, Missouri and Paola, Kansas (in or near what is now known as Gunn City). Forty-one men were arrested and brought to trial for these killings, but there were no convictions. At the time of the shootings, a Republican newspaper, belonging to Mr. Porter J. Coston, in Harrisonville, Missouri, was burned by the same mob.
The year before the Civil War, twelve cities in Missouri had population of approx. 2500 or more. Harrisonville ranked 37th with a population of 675. In 1863 the town was depopulated, and most of the buildings burned, the jail among them . Fort Harrisonville was a Union stronghold for a brief period in 1863 and provided protection for loyal Union families.
Cities and towns
|
East Lynne, Missouri East Lynne is a city in Cass County, Missouri, United States. The population was 300 at the 2000 census. The name was derived from a novel.-Geography:East Lynne is located at .... Freeman, Missouri Freeman is a city in Cass County, Missouri, United States. The population was 521 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Freeman is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.... Garden City, Missouri Garden City is a city in Cass County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,500 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Garden City is located at .... Gunn City, Missouri Gunn City is a village in Cass County, Missouri, United States. The population was 85 at the 2000 census, at which time it was a town.-Geography:Gunn City is located at .... Harrisonville, Missouri Harrisonville is a city in Cass County, Missouri, United States. The population was 10,019 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of CassCounty.Harrisonville was found in 1837, and was named for Congressman Albert G. Harrison... |
Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties... Lake Annette, Missouri Lake Annette is a city in Cass County, Missouri, United States. The population was 163 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lake Annette is located at .... Lake Winnebago, Missouri Lake Winnebago is a city in Cass County, Missouri, United States. The population was 902 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lake Winnebago is located at .... Lee's Summit, Missouri Lee's Summit is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri, and is contained within the counties of Jackson and Cass. As of the 2010 census found the population at 91,364 making it the sixth-largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area and the sixth-largest city in Missouri... Loch Lloyd, Missouri Loch Lloyd is a village in northwestern Cass County, Missouri, United States on the Kansas border in the Kansas City metropolitan area. It incorporated on 2003-09-03... |
Peculiar, Missouri Peculiar is a city in Cass County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,604 at the 2000 census. The town motto is, appropriately enough, "Where the 'odds' are with you."-History:... Pleasant Hill, Missouri Pleasant Hill is a city in Cass County, Missouri, United States. The population was 5,582 at the 2000 census.Pleasant Hill is home for the Kansas City/Pleasant Hill National Weather Service Forecast Office, which serves 37 counties in northern and western Missouri and seven counties in extreme... Raymore, Missouri Raymore is a city in Cass County, Missouri, United States. Raymore is one of the fastest growing cities in the state of Missouri, and surpassed the 2007 estimated population of 16,000 by over 1,000. It is a suburb of choice for many people that make the daily commute to Metropolitan Kansas... Strasburg, Missouri Strasburg is a city in Cass County, Missouri, United States. The population was 136 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Strasburg is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.... West Line, Missouri West Line is a village in Cass County, Missouri, United States. The population was 95 at the 2000 census.-Geography:West Line is located at .... |
See also
- List of counties in Missouri
- Missouri census statistical areasMissouri census statistical areasThe United States Census Bureau has defined 3 Combined Statistical Areas , 8 Metropolitan Statistical Areas , and 20 Micropolitan Statistical Areas in the State of Missouri...
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Cass County, Missouri
External links
- Cass County government link's website
- Digitized 1930 Plat Book of Cass County from University of MissouriUniversity of MissouriThe University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
Division of Special Collections, Archives, and Rare Books