Monroe County Article written by Thomas V. Bodine, Paris

Monroe township has a larger infusion of northern and eastern blood than any other township in the county, though Monroe city, its only town, is distinctly southern in its ideals and standards.

The town of Monroe City was laid out in 1857 by E. B. Talcott, a contractor building tracts for the new Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, then in process of construction and was born in time to acquire a most eventful history being the scene of the biggest battle fought on Monroe county soil during the bitter strife that followed.

This checked its growth but on the restoration of peace it speedily recovered and in 1910 was the largest town in the county, having a population of over two thousund. The first church in the town was St. Jude’s, an Episcopal congregation organized in 1866. The Christian church followed in 1869. the Baptist in 1870, the Presbyterian in 1871 and the Methodist in 1876, the large Catholic church there coming at a relatively recent date. Its public schools were organized in 1867, and the Monroe City Bank followed in 1875, John B. Randol being president and W. R. P. Jackson. cashier. The latter organized the Farmers and Merchants Bank in 1886, and the two institutions, Mr. Jackson still being at the head of the latter, are among the strongest country banks in the state. The old bank is now in charge of Dr. Thos. Proctor, a member of the family which has been identified with the growth and development of the township from the beginning, mainly as farmers, stockmen and financiers. The first house in Monroe City was built by J. M. Preston and the first regular dry goods store was owned by John Boulware. Dr. Proctor, above mentioned, was its first physician.

The most famous institution an Monroe City from a historical stand­point was the old Monroe Institute, erected by a stock company in 1860. It was in this building the Federal troops took refuge to beat off the attack of General Harris and his raw Confederate recruits during the Civil war and an examination of the names signed to the articles of incorporation discloses that Monroe City, like the rest of the county, has changed little in blood strains and in family lines. There were then the Baileys, Proctors, Warners, McClintics, Boulwares, Sheets, Fuquas and Yates and the same names and the same families continue today. Monroe is a fine cattle producing township and enjoys an especial ascendancy in the Hereford strain, an outgrowth of the Monroe Hereford Association organized in 1871.