View of the Past

This article and the photos are courtesy of Ron Leake, president of Ralls County Historical Society. It is a continuation of the History of Ralls County article that has run for several weeks.

History of Ralls County

By JOE BURNETT IN 1900

ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY
Ralls county was born on the 16th day of November,1820. It was named for Daniel Ralls, a member of the legislature. Ralls was then a county of magnificent proportions, having an area larger than some of the states, stretching north to the Iowa line and west to the line between ranges 13 and 14, and comprising the territory now forming Audrain, Monroe, Shelby, Lewis, Clark, Marion, Knox and Scotland as well as the Ralls county of today. Marion was taken from the northern part of Ralls in 1826. In 1829 Randolph was organized, Monroe in 1831, Audrain in 1836, when Ralls assumed its present shape and limits.
The act of the legislature of November,1820, forming the county of Ralls, designated Dabney Jones, James Garnett, Richard Jones, Stephen Glascock and Francis Grant as commissioners to locate the county seat. Soon afterward they fixed upon New London and proceeded to build a court house and jail.
The first court house [sic] was built in 1822. It was a log structure, twenty feet long and eighteen feet wide, two stories high. The upper story was the court room and the lower story the county jail. One of the lower stories was called the dungeon, where rogues, felons and malefactors were imprisoned. In those days men were often imprisoned for debt. The next court house [sic] was of brick, two stories high, fifty feet square. It was built in 1835. It became unsafe and was torn down in 1858 and the present courthouse, built of cut stone, erected at a cost of $48,000. It is held today as one of the handsomest old courthouses in the state and will be standing for years to come, it is thought.

DANIEL RALLS
Daniel Ralls, the man for whom the county was named, was the son of Nathaniel W. Ralls. He was a native of Virginia but emigrated [sic] to the wilds of Kentucky in his youth. He became familiar with the frontier life, was schooled in the art of woodcraft and grew to stalwart young manhood. He learned to read and write and took every opportunity to improve his mind. He moved westward to Missouri in 1818 and settled on a tract of land four miles west of New London. He was a man of more than ordinary intelligence and force of character. In two years after his arrival here he was elected to the legislature from the then existing county of Pike. He was at that time about thirty-five years old. On August 4, 1820, the legislature met in St. Louis and soon afterward Ralls was taken very ill. Col. Thomas H. Benton was a candidate before the legislature for United States senator. The contest was close. One vote would decide it.
Mr. Ralls was a strong Benton adherent and although he was unable to go himself to the hall, he was carried there on his bed and cast the vote that elected Benton. This was his last act in public life. He was then taken home weak and fainting and in a few days he died. He left a widow and five small children. One of his sons, John Ralls, was a lawyer in Ralls county and was active in political and military affairs.
Although the name of Daniel Ralls is remembered in history because Ralls county is named for him, it is unfortunate that his grave was not marked and that no one now knows where he was buried. It is supposed that he was buried in a small graveyard near his farm, but the gravestones have been scattered and time has wrecked the place.