Independence, Jackson County, Missouri Genealogy

History
Independence is known as the "Queen City of the Trails" because it was a point of departure of the California, Oregon and Santa Fe Trails. Independence played an important role in the early history of the Latter-day Saint movement.

Independence was originally inhabited by Missouri and Osage Indians, followed by the Spanish and a brief French tenure. It became part of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Lewis and Clark recorded in their journals that they stopped in 1804 to pick plums, raspberries, and wild apples at a site that would later form part of the city.

Named after the Declaration of Independence, Independence was founded on March 29, 1827, and quickly became an important frontier town. Independence was the farthest point westward on the Missouri River where steamboats or other cargo vessels could travel, due to the convergence of the Kansas River with the Missouri River approximately six miles west of town, near the current Kansas-Missouri border. Independence immediately became a jumping-off point for the emerging fur trade, accommodating merchants and adventurers beginning the long trek westward on the Santa Fe Trail.

In 1831, members of the Latter-day Saint movement began moving to the Jackson County, Missouri area. Shortly thereafter, founder Joseph Smith, Jr. declared a spot west of the Courthouse Square to be the place for his prophesied temple of the New Jerusalem, in expectation of the Second Coming of Christ. Tension grew with local Missourians until the Latter-day Saints were driven from the area in 1833, the beginning of a conflict which culminated in the 1838 Mormon War. Several branches of this movement gradually returned to the city beginning in 1867, with many making their headquarters there. These include the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), the Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) and the Restoration Branches.

Independence saw great prosperity from the late 1830s through the mid-1840s, while the business of outfitting pioneers boomed. Between 1848 and 1868, it was a hub of the California Trail. On March 8, 1849, the Missouri General Assembly granted a home-rule charter to the town and on July 18, 1849, William McCoy was elected as its first mayor. In the mid-19th century an Act of the United States Congress defined Independence as the start of the Oregon Trail.

Independence saw two important battles during the Civil War: the first on August 11, 1862 when Confederate soldiers took control of the town, and the second in October 1864, which also resulted in a Southern victory. The war took its toll on Independence and the town was never able to regain its previous prosperity, although a flurry of building activity took place soon after the war. The rise of nearby Kansas City also contributed to the town's relegation to a place of secondary prominence in Jackson County, though Independence has retained its position as county seat to the present day.

City Map

 * Independence City Map

Cemeteries

 * Chives Cemetery
 * Drake Cemetery
 * Franklin Cemetery
 * George Owens Nature Park
 * Hedrick Cemetery
 * Hill Park Cemetery
 * Hudspeth Cemetery
 * Luttrell Cemetery
 * Mount Washington Forever Cemetery
 * Rice Cemetery
 * Woodlawn Cemetery

Newspapers

 * The Examiner - Published since 1898.
 * Missouri Newspaper Archives 1808 - 1949

Libraries and Museums

 * Kansas City Public LIbrary - Trails West Branch
 * Mid-Continent Public Library Midwest Genealogy Center
 * Mid-Continent Public Library - Midwest Genealogy Center
 * Jackson County Historical Society
 * Harry S. Truman Library and Museum

FamilySearch Centers

 * Blue Springs Missouri FamilySearch Center