270 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI Old jMines west of the ilississippi river on the Cape Gir- Old Mines was founded in 1802 by French ^rdeau & Chester Railway. The town was settlers from Ste. Genevieve, though there l^id out m 1S22 by Robert T. Brown, Joseph had been people living in the vit-inity at var- /Tucker and Thomas Rmey, commissioners ap- ious times fri)m the discovery of the mines by Renault about 1726. There were thirty-one families of the old French settlers and the greater part of the population was engaged in mining. The first Catholic church in Wash- ington county was erected by the people at this village. At the present time there are two churches, Catholic and Baptist, a public school, a Catholic school, a hotel, several stores, a lead smelter, and a niiU. It has a population of about 250 and is situated in Washington county six miles north of Potosi. Caledonia Caledonia, a village in Washington coimty about 12 miles south of Potosi, was founded in 1819 and is in the center of the famous Bellevue valley, the coimtry around it being remarkable for its fertility. In 1899 it had three general stores, a wagon factory, a saw mill, a grist mill, a Methodist church and a Presbyterian church and a public school. At that time its population was 250, its present population is 128. The Presbyterian church is one of the oldest in Missouri, having been organized in 1825. The town was formerly the seat of Bellevue Collegiate Institute be- fore its removal to Fredericktown. There is one bank, the Bank of Caledonia, with a cap- ital of .$10,000. It is the terminus of the Caledonia branch of the Iron Mountain Rail- way which runs from Mineral Point. Perrtville Perryville is the county .seat of Perry county ; it is in Center township fourteen miles pointed to select the seat of justice of Perry county. The land was owned by Bernard Layton, who donated fifty-one acres to the county as a site for the county seat. This land was surveyed and the to^^^l platted by William McLane. The lots were sold at pub- lic auction, fifty-three lots bringing a total of $1,468.25. The first merchant in the town was Ferdinand Rozier, of Ste. Genevieve, who opened a store on the north side of the public square in a wooden building ; after a time he built a large brick building, which is still standing. The second merchant was Levi Block, and about 18-10 Gissel and Company and T. & L. Landry began business. Among the early settlers were John Logan, who con- ducted a tan yard, Leonard Fath, a black- smith. Dr. Richard Dorsey, Dr. Reuben Shel- by, Luther Taylor and Frederick Hase, who was clerk of the court. The first incorpora- tion of the town was made in 1831, the trustees being Clayton D. Abernathy, George Killian. Luther Taylor, Dr. Richard Dorsey and William A. Keyte. This organization was allowed to lapse after a short time and the to«Ti was not reincorporated imtil 1856; at that time the trustees were Leon DeLassus, John Bridgeman, George W. Enler, Bernard Cissell and Leonard Fath. At the breaking out of the Civil war the population was about 300; the town suffered some during the war, but not so greatly as many other towns in this part of the state. At this time there were about 60 business houses, including bank, flouring mill, brick and ice plants, hotels, general stores, etc. There are four churches and a good system of public schools. St. Marj's Seminary, which was established in
