How the Towns in Wayne County
Got Their Names
Allerton, Bethlehem, Bentonville, Big Springs, Cambria, Clio, Confidence, Corydon, Genoa, Harvard, Humeston, Lewisburg, Lineville, Millerton, New York, Promise City, Sewal, and Seymour.
ALLERTON
Was started by Rock Island Railroad. They bought 160 acres of land and a town began. It became a legal town in 1874. Allerton's population in 1913 was 1600. The population in 1973 was 643. Allerton is in Warren Township. Warren Township got its name after a general in remembrance of him.CORYDON Was named by Judge Anderson when he was playing a poker game. The person who won named the town. His home town was Corydon, Indiana. He named it Corydon after his home town. In 1913 the population at Corydon was 1800. Now it is 1745, the largest town in Wayne County.HUMESTON Was named in honor of Alva Humeston, Sr. A man named, S.W. Mallory, a railroad official from Chariton named the town Humeston. Alva Humeston, Sr. constructed the first building and was the first postmaster and held it for 24 years, he also was the mayor of Humeston a while and was a school board member. Wayne county bought a farm at two and a half dollars an acre. The population in 1913 at Humeston was 1400. Now it has decreased to 673. Humeston is in Richman Township which was named in honor of M. H. Richman.BETHLEHEM Is one of the oldest towns in Wayne County. Columbus Parr and his wifeNEW YORK Was named New York because it had more room than New York City. NewBENTONVILLE Is in Benton Township near Corydon, Iowa. Benton was a name of a wellLEWISBURG Near Highway 65 is in Clay Township. Clay was the name of a well known statesman whose name they bear.BIG SPRINGS Near Lineville is in Jefferson Township. Jefferson also was the name of aPROMISE CITY Was named by a group of farmers near it in 1852. Laid out by BurrisLINEVILLE Is the oldest town in Wayne County. Part of Lineville is in Missouri so they named it Lineville. This was recorded in 1858.CAMBRIA Was by the Mormon trail long ago. A. Nelson named Cambria in 1855. Also recorded later in 1855.CLIO Was suggested by Marion Edgeman. The village was laid out April 16, 1874 by J. W. Tabler. Clio's population is 113 now.CONFIDENCE Was laid out September 6, 1858 by four people, Epperson and Calvin Holder, David Wright and Humphrey May. In 1913 Confidence's population was 100. Now it is 16.HARVARD Was named in 1882. This village was once known by Grainville. Laid out by Ellis and Martha Shriver and Lemuel and Josephine Kimple.GENOA Was named after a Post Office by that name. It was laid out by Hugh Miller in 1855.SEWAL Was laid out in 1887, when the Milwaukee Railroad was built through the southeastern part of Jackson Township.
Was named for H. C. Miller. It was laid out and recorded in December of 1912. Millerton's population in 1913 was 4 or 5 hundred. Now it is 83.
Was indebted to the Railroad for its' existence. J. C. Fox, William Wade, Hiram Evans and H. S. Rogers laid out Seymour in 1870. Mr. Fox suggested the name Seymour. A railroad official from Seymour, Indiana. So the town became Seymour. Seymour's population has decreased since 1913 because it was 2000 - now it is 931. Seymour had an |