Madison County, MO
History
The first white men to explore the area that now comprises Madison County were Renault, La Motte and their companions about the early years 1721-23. They discovered minerals, principally lead, but since they found no silver ore, no settlement was established.The first person of whom there is any record of his settlement upon land in the county for agricultural purposes is John Calloway, a Kentuckian, who in 1799 was granted land on Saline Creek at the mouth of the Little St. Francois. He also served as judge of the court of quarter-sessions of Ste. Genevieve District in 1806, and was sheriff of Madison County.
Madison County was organized by legislative act December 4, 1818, and was named in honor of President Madison. The county then extended to Black River, and was reduced to its present limits in 1857 when a portion of it was included in Iron County.
Source: A Directory of Towns, Villages, and Hamlets of Madison County, Missouri