The State of Wayne

I first uncovered a reference to the State of Wayne in a hundred year-old book as I researched the various Van Buren erasures in 19th century Missouri. I noted this fascinating term of art in my records. One never knows when such a thing might come in handy. It gained a prominent place on my ever-growing shelf of tchotchkes that I hoped to examine someday when given the chance.


What’s In a Name?

The name itself captivated me more than anything. It sounded like a joke. State of Wayne? At least the State of Franklin and the Free State of Winston sounded vaguely state-like. They seemed like what someone would name a state given the opportunity. The State of Wayne had more of an appearance of some random guy pulled off the street.

It might as well be the State of Dude, for all of the consideration put into it. I suppose it sounded a bit too much like Wayne’s World. Party on. Excellent. That was also its saving grace. I would have forgotten about it or dismissed it if it hadn’t been so pedestrian.


Not Much Today

There never was an attempt to create a State of Wayne, serious or otherwise. It referenced a particularly large county on the frontier that existed for a time, as parcels quickly formed and organized into more manageable sizes. Only a remnant, a mere artifact, a tiny sliver of the once grand State of Wayne carried the name forward to the present.

The current Wayne County, Missouri has neither notable size nor population. It’s acreage is proportional to other Missouri counties and fewer than 13,000 residents. Greenville, its county seat, has only about 450 residents.


Origin

The so-called State of Wayne, however, once formed a sizable portion of southern Missouri. Campbell’s Gazetteer of Missouri published in 1874 described its dimensions:

“Wayne County was organized from Cape Girardeau, Dec. 11th, 1818, and in 1820 its boundaries were thus defined: north by Gasconade, Washington and Madison Counties, east by Cape Girardeau and New Madrid, south by the territory of Arkansas, and west by the western boundary of Missouri. From her vast extent she was familiarly known as the ‘State of Wayne,’ and since county after county has been taken from her territory, she has been called ‘the Mother of Counties’.”

Most histories tend to note two aspects in particular.

  1. The original Wayne County was larger than the eastern states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island or Delaware and;
  2. All or part of 32 separate Missouri counties were once part of Wayne County. There are 115 counties in Missouri today so that’s about a quarter of Missouri counties.

Maps

We can surmise from the written description that Wayne occupied a large part of the southern tier of Missouri, and maps from that era tell a similar story.

State of Wayne in Missouri. From the 1826 Anthony Finley Map of Missouri via the David Rumsey Map Collection; in the Public Domain
Wayne County in 1826

This is a detail from the 1826 Anthony Finley Map of the State of Missouri And Territory of Arkansas. You may have to look closely but you’ll see W-A-Y-N-E spelled in widely spaced lettering along the bottom of Missouri.

I’ve attempted to produce an eyeball approximating using Google Maps. “Eyeball” means I have sufficient motivation to throw-together a map but I’m too lazy to make it completely accurate. It’s the usual story of my brain: my compulsive attention to detail battling my desire to pursue the path of least resistance. Least resistance won today. Others are welcome to improve upon this product. Then I can link to your image instead of mine.


Context

After I plotted it out I noticed its decent size but it’s hardly all that remarkable. There are plenty of counties out west today that are considerably larger, not to mention many of Alaska’s boroughs. Then I stood back and put it into its larger historical context. This was the first quarter of the 19th Century. It wasn’t long after the Louisiana Purchase. There wasn’t a Texas annexation, a Mexican cession, or an Oregon Country yet. This was indeed part of the western frontier of the United States for its time.

Wayne County would have seemed monumentally huge when compared to the settlers’ frame of reference; the small eastern states of their ancestors with their diminutive counties and townships.

Why choose a pedestrian name like Wayne, though? It was named for Anthony Wayne, an American general in the Revolutionary War. He was a bold and tenacious leader with a fiery temper, leading to a popular nickname: “Mad Anthony” Wayne. Now that’s more like it.


Posted

in

, ,

by

Comments

6 responses to “The State of Wayne”

  1. KCJeff Avatar
    KCJeff

    Thanks for some more Missouri oddities. I was not aware of the “State of Wayne”! I trust your research, but offer another possible scenerio that led to it’s name. Our fore fathers probably envisioned that this area would be the home to the cradle of mild entertainment – Branson; and who else to honor than the king of Branson – Wayne Newton! To further support my conclusion – Newton county lies in the western side of “Wayne”.

    1. Twelve Mile Circle Avatar

      That is so cool, KCJeff. You’ve made my day. Seriously. 🙂

  2. Alger Avatar
    Alger

    When I was a lowly grad student at U of Minnesota my job was researching and recreating historical census geography, and most states organized after the revolution have similar “mother of counties” counties. Illinois has Crawford for example.
    But because my heart belongs to Mizzou and because the state’s remarkable politicians foreshadowed the coming of our secular saint of kitsch Wayne Newton, I am now determined to name my next homestead the State of Wayne.

    There is a more detailed representation of Missouri’s historical counties here;look for Wayne at its biggest circa 1825.
    http://www.familyhistory101.com/maps/mo-maps.html

    PS: Is this a good place to suggest a post on border wars? Missouri and Iowa had the bee-tree war, and Michigan invaded Toledo in 1836. Maybe add it to the pile of possibles.

  3. Joe Avatar
    Joe

    A couple of notes:

    1. I believe your drawing of the State of Wayne is a little small. Looking at a larger version of the historical map you posted, it appears the northern boundary should be roughly even with Cape Girardeau (which is farther east), but your boundary is south of that line. Also, I believe some of the eastern border isn’t far enough east considering you just barely have Greenville in the county, and it is the present day county seat.

    2. On a side note, while looking at the historical map, if you look at the county above the current Wayne county (Madison County), you will notice “12 Mile C.” on the map. While I am sure this stands for 12 Mile Creek, I like to think of it as the mapmaker predicting that 175 years later the 12 Mile Circle Blog would find his map and highlight it.

  4. Gregg Avatar

    I am in the middle of tracking through the country to find out the stories of the people in the different locations of our country and this post added to my excitement of what I will uncover. When I am in Missouri, I hope you don’t mind if I share this post. The website is Projectkinect.com Thank you for your fantastic blog. I’m so happy I stumbled upon it.

    1. Twelve Mile Circle Avatar

      Please do, Gregg. I’d love to be able to make a trek like yours someday…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Comments

  1. Clint, 24 March 2021. I’m 89 years old and have traveled the 100th Meridian for years between Uvalde, TX and…

  2. Many of these comments are very interesting, have enjoyed reading. We cross several times a year as well going from…