164 HISTORY OP SOUTHEAST MISSOURI The first jail, built in 1819, was used for thirty years, when a stone building two stories in height was erected on the public square west of the court house; it was in use only ten years and was superseded by the present brick jail. At one time in Missouri the legislature cre- ated several courts called courts of common pleas; these were given limited jurisdiction coordinate in part with the circuit courts in civil matters. One of these courts was organ- ized at Clarkton in Dunklin county and an- other in Cape Girardeau, and others at differ- ent places in this section of the state. Of all of them, however, created throughout the en- tire state, only two of them continue to exist, one of them being the court of common pleas at Cape Girardeau. Its sittings are held in the common pleas court house situated on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi river, one of the most beautiful situations in the entire state. This building has recently been the cause of a rather imusual controversy. It is built on land once owned by Louis Lorimier and given by him to Cape Girardeau for court purposes. Whether it is the property of the nnmicipality of Cape Girardeau or the county is the question which has not yet been de- termined; neither coimty nor city desire to be vested with the o^vne^ship, for that carries with it the financial burden of repairs and maintenance. For a number of years the ex- pense was divided but recently there is an agitation to determine who is the owner of the property. Not only was Lorimier farsighted enough End patriotic enough to devote land in his new town for the purpose of building a court house, the terms of his will set aside certain tracts of land, also, to be used for school and also for recreation purposes, and the city of Cape Girardeau is fortunate in holding some very desirable park and school sites within its bounds, owing to the generosity of its founder. The courts of common pleas and general quarter sessions of the peace in New Madrid district were organized in March, 1805 ; the judges were Richard Jones "Waters, Elisha "Windsor, Henry Master, John Baptiste Olive, and JMichael Amoreaux; Joshua Humphreys was the clerk and George "Wilson was sheriff. The records of this court have been destroyed and there is practically no information avail- able concerning the work of this court. In 1813 New Madrid district was changed into New Madrid county. It then had the follow- ing boundaries : On the north it was bounded by the south line of Cape Girardeau coimty ; this line was described as "commencing on the Mississippi river at the head of Tywappaty bottom at the upper end of the tract of land where James Brady now lives (near .Com- merce), thence west to the south side of the Big Swamp, thence on a direct line to the Shawnee village on Castor river, thence due west to the western boundary line of the Osage purchase." On the east it was bounded by the main channel of the Mississippi river; on the south by a line commencing in the river at Island No. 19, running thence in a direct line to "White river at the mouth of Little Red river; thence up Red river to the western boundary of the Osage purchase. In the organization of the county, Samuel Cooper, Thomas "Windsor, Daniel Sparks, John Guerthing and John Tucker were named as a commission to locate a permanent seat of justice. Prior to this time the courts had met at New Madrid and also at the house of Samuel Phillips in Big Prairie. The eoin-t of com- mon pleas as reorganized by the act changing the district into a coimty, was composed of
