History
Putnam County Public Library
Establishment of Unionville
Unionville (originally called Harmony) was established in
1853 as the county seat in the newly established Putnam County.
Putnam was created by the consolidation of Dodge and Putnam
counties, both reduced in size by the loss of their northernmost
12 sections to neighboring Iowa in 1851. Neither of the
county remnants was large enough to constitute a county so the
two were joined in a single elongated 36 x 14-mile configuration.
Unionville was the name imposed by the Legislature on February 5,
1855 because there was another Harmony in the state. Incorporation
followed on November 4, 1857.
By the year 1870 the population of Unionville was counted
as 462 hardly citizens.
The city’s first
growth spurt began in 1870 and in seven years the town’s
population increased to 800. The growth was
bolstered by the arrival of the Burlington and Southwestern
Railroad, which reached the town on June 19, 1873. The
first telegraph arrived on October 10, 1873. Before this the
nearest railroad was at Brookfield or Laclede with all supplies
being hauled in by team and wagons. During the Civil War
our trade was turned into Iowa and Ottumwa was the nearest
shipping point.
The rush of growth was reflected in the platting of numerous
residential additions and substantial downtown:
| Unionville has awakened to a new life. The
advent of B & S W has inspired its citizens with a
fever of improvement. We noticed excavations for
foundations for what indicated a better class of
buildings, and with its peculiarly fortunate location in
the heart of the coal fields, the wealth of the country
and the fresh energy of its business men, there is no
reason why it should not rapidly assume a front rank
among the towns of North Missouri…Glenwood
Criterion, reprinted in the Unionville Republican, June
26, 18 |
Area coal mining was underway as early as 1873 but it wasn’t
properly capitalized until 1879 with the establishment of the
Mendota Coal and Mining Company. Coal mining subsequently
provided a key source of local wealth in the county.
By 1877 there were 17 general stores, two furniture stores, three
harness stores, two liveries, and two lumberyards. There
were two butchers, a bank, two real estate offices, three
boarding houses, two hotels, three restaurants, a cooperage,
wagon shop and an insurance office. Industries included a
mill, a carding factory and a furniture factory. (1619
Grant is only building left on square that was there in 1877)
| OLDEST BUSINESS IN UNIONVILLE 1. Unionville Republican—1865 2. McCutchen & Son—1897 3. Farmers Bank--1900 |
Two Putnam County Industries
E.N. Monroe traveled with his parents in a covered wagon from
Ohio to Harrison County, Missouri in the early 1870’s.
His family later moved to a farm in eastern Putnam County. Later
Mr. Monroe owned and operated a drug store in what is now known
as the Howard Building at the north west corner of the square in
Unionville. At this time he had an employee named Hugh
Elson.
While the store was
being operated a formula for a dye was worked out or discovered
and this was the start of an industry known as Putnam Fadeless
Dyes. For some years a factory was maintained in Unionville
but because of a lack of proper railroad facilities the business
moved to Quincy, Illinois, where it is still in operation. Mr.
Monroe lived to be about 96 years of age. Mr. Elson has
generally been credited with the discovery of the formula.
Mr. S.B. Walton used a small portion of the store for the sale of jewelry. On one occasion he told Mr. Monroe that he would like to take a month’s vacation. He had a nephew at Bloomfield, Iowa, who had had some experience in clerking and that this relative would run the department during the his absence if it was satisfactory with Mr. Monroe. The latter assented. After the boy arrived he asked Mr. Monroe if he might work at the store at nights. Mr. Monroe told his he could.
About two week’s later Mr. Monroe attended a Masonic Lodge and on the way home he went into the store to pick up some item to take home. He noted a light in the back end and on going back there he saw the young man working at a counter. He asked the boy what he was doing. The boy answered: “You might think that it is a little silly, but I have had the idea that it might be possible to make a pen with a bowl that would hold ink and by asserting pressure on the pen point the ink might be slowly released. I suppose you would call it an automatic fountain pen;”
This youngster was named W.A. Sheaffer and this was the beginning of the fountain pen industry.
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