Quickfacts:
- Telephone exchange: 543-xxxx
- Zip code: 63673
- Township: Beauvais
- Namesake: Ezekiel 27:17 & Judges 11:33 - meaning "land of
wheat"
Quicklinks:
Minnith History
Minnith is a small farming community located in the
southeast corner of Ste. Genevieve County, ten miles southwest of
St. Mary's. The name Minnith, the old timers tell us, came
from the Bible. It is found in Ezekiel 27:17 and Judges 11:33.
The name means "land of wheat."
[Ezekiel 27:17 "Judah, and the land of Israel, they were
thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith,
and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm." KJV
Judges 11:33 "And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou
come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of
the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of
Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel." KJV]
Few people are left that can remember the once booming
town, but some tell us of a blacksmith shop, taverns, stores, a
church, school, and even hotels, which operated in this town, in its
day. The Chester-Iron Mountain Railroad came through Minnith
on a daily schedule, delivering and picking up freight, such as ties
from the tie yard and gravel from the Saline Creek.
In those days, the activity of the town was at the post
office, and the post office was moved several times. The last
location was at the Minnith store. The post office was
permanently closed in 1971; the area now gets its mail via St.
Mary's.
Minnith was also the home of the Modern Woodmen, which boast
the names of old settlers, such as: Joe LeClere, Joe Lietterman,
Elias Boland, Nick Boland, Jim Tournbaugh, Pat Coffman, Ralph
Coffman, Albert Tallevast, George Brewster, Bead Voelker, William
Litterest, Same Hand, Bud Roth, Valentine Litterest, Clinton
Robinson, Carroll Boyd, Tom Coffamn, Albert Chandler, and John
Boland.
One of their most notable ancestors was Obediah Scott. He was born
in Virginia in 1764 and fought in the Revolutionary War. He
had acquired 800 acres of property located in Ste. Genevieve County
on the Big Saline River in a settlement called New Tennessee.
It was here that Scott was one of the founders of the Hephzibah
(Baptist) Church. He is known as the pioneer of the Missouri
Baptists. The meeting of the Bethel Association was at Scott's
home in 1838. Shortly after the meeting, Obediah Scott died
(1840) and was buried in a spot set aside for family burials, a
little to the east of the old stone homestead. The home is
still standing today.
The grave stone was later moved to the Minnith Cemetery,
where it stands today. Obediah Scott's estate, after the death
of his wife, Mary, in 1845, was divided among his descendants, who
bore the names of Scott, Cleveland, Hunt, Duvall, Rutledge, William
and Elias Brown, Boland, Young, Mills, Horn, Dodge, Pettit, among
others.
Today, Minnith is the home to the Saline Baptist Church and
Minnith Cemetery, and remains a small, but friendly community.1
Newspaper Clippings
The Ste. Genevieve Herald, Nov, 18, 1893
Thank you, Bettye for this clip
MINNITH JOTTINGS.
Minnith, Mo., Nov. 13, 1893.
Minnith has come to life again. H. K. Brown and W. Sutherland
have revived the dying embers with a stock of cheap goods.
James Kenner has started his saw mill again.
The Hon. John F. Shearlock was in town a few days ago.
We don't hear any more railroad news in our town.
Mr. William Brown was in our town Saturday with his race mare. Uncle
Bill thinks she can beat them all.
The Democrats would have snowed us under this November but they got
badly frost bit in the attempt. They are kinder getting soft.
We have plenty of shooting matches in this part.
Hall & Farley is still making things lively in the blacksmith line.
Corn is not half a crop in this part.
We are still in hopes of eating some wedding cake in our town but
don't know when.
Mr. John Blue was in town last week delivering fruit trees.
The blacksmith was jubilant over a fat 'possum he caught a few
nights ago.
James Evans of our town killed four fine turkeys last week, that is
more than Jim's share.
Don't forget that Hall & Farley is prepared to do all kinds of wood
work on short notice.
Our neighbor, Nicholas Heberle is erecting a fine barn on his farm.
Our merchants started for St. Louis last Sunday to buy their goods
for the
winter.
The reverend Mr. Perkins delivered a fine sermon at the Saline
church last Sunday.
The blacksmith took his hat off and jumped for joy last Saturday
when he heard that the Republicans snowed the Democrats under in the
election last Tuesday.
Sources:
1. Ste. Genevieve
Family Histories
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