Wayne County, Missouri

History

Wayne County was created in December 1818 by the last Missouri Territorial Legislature from portions of Cape Girardeau and Lawrence counties. Wayne County thus actually predates statehood. In March 1819, Congress established the Territory of Arkansas, and most of Lawrence County became Lawrence County, Arkansas Territory. The small strip that had been excluded was added to Wayne County by the Missouri State Constitution of 1820. The Osage Strip on the Kansas border was added in 1825. Between 1825 and 1831, Wayne County was actually larger than the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Delaware combined. All or part of 32 present Missouri counties once belonged to Wayne County. Despite its size, the Census of 1820 revealed that Wayne County had a total population of just 1,239 white inhabitants and 204 African American slaves.

When Wayne County was formed in 1818, the territorial legislature appointed five commissioners to govern it. They chose a small settlement called Cedar Cabin on the St. Francis River to be the county seat. Renamed Greenville, it had grown to about 1,000 by the turn of the 20th century. By 1940, however, the population had declined to 572. In 1941, the remaining inhabitants were forced to relocated because of the construction of Lake Wappapello. This new town's population had fallen to 270 in 1950, but has now increased to about 450.

The Wayne County Courthouse was destroyed by a fire in 1854. In 1866, the records in new courthouse were stolen, and in 1892 the courthouse again burned down. Thus few county records survive from that time.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 774 square miles (2,000 km²), of which 759 square miles (1,970 km²) is land and 15 square miles (39 km²) (1.9%) is water.

Adjacent counties

Major highways

National protected areas

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 13,259 people, 5,551 households, and 3,841 families residing in the county. The population density was 17 people per square mile (7/km²). There were 7,496 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.68% White, 0.17% Black or African American, 0.58% Native American, 0.11% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.08% from other races, and 1.36% from two or more races. 0.49% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. The most common first ancestries reported in Wayne County were 32.9% American, 15.0% German, 11.9% English, 11.7% Irish, 3.0% French (excluding Basque), 2.0% Dutch and 2.0% Italian.

There were 5,551 households out of which 27.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.20% were married couples living together, 9.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.80% were non-families. 27.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.84.

In the county, the population was spread out with 23.20% under the age of 18, 6.70% from 18 to 24, 23.50% from 25 to 44, 26.80% from 45 to 64, and 19.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 98.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $29,166, and the median income for a family was $34,727. Males had a median income of $26,241 versus $17,232 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,852. About 17.90% of families and 21.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.70% of those under age 18 and 15.60% of those age 65 or over.

Religion

According to the Association of Religion Data Archives County Membership Report (2000), Wayne County is a part of the Bible Belt with evangelical Protestantism being the majority religion. The most predominant denominations among residents in Wayne County who adhere to a religion are Southern Baptists (62.76%), Methodists (10.08%), and Roman Catholics (7.07%).

Local

The Democratic Party predominantly controls politics at the local level in Wayne County. Democrats hold all but five of the elected positions in the county.

State

Wayne County is divided among three legislative districts in the Missouri House of Representatives.

All of Wayne County is a part of Missouri's 25th District in the Missouri Senate and is currently represented by State Senator Rob Mayer (R-Dexter). In 2008, Mayer defeated Democrat M. Shane Stoelting 65.32%-34.68% in the district. The 25th Senatorial District consists of Butler, Dunklin, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Ripley, Stoddard, and Wayne counties.

Federal

Wayne County is included in Missouri’s 8th Congressional District and is currently represented by Jason T. Smith (R-Salem) in the U.S. House of Representatives. Smith won a special election on Tuesday, June 4, 2013, to finish out the remaining term of U.S. Representative Jo Ann Emerson (R-Cape Girardeau). Emerson announced her resignation a month after being reelected with over 70 percent of the vote in the district. She resigned to become CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative.

Political culture

At the presidential level, Wayne County was traditionally a fairly independent county or battleground. Unlike many rural counties which are Republican strongholds, voters in Wayne County had seldom been lockstep in their tendencies. While George W. Bush carried Wayne County both times in 2000 and 2004, Bill Clinton also carried the county both times in 1992 and 1996. Like many rural counties in Missouri and throughout the United States in 2008, voters in Wayne County favored John McCain over Barack Obama, and favored Mitt Romney by a significantly larger margin in 2012

However, like most rural areas, voters in Wayne County generally adhere to socially and culturally conservative principles and therefore have a slight tendency to vote Republican. In 2004, Missourians voted on a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman—it overwhelmingly passed Wayne County with 87.75 percent of the vote. The initiative passed the state with 71 percent of support from voters as Missouri became the first state to ban same-sex marriage. In 2006, Missourians voted on a constitutional amendment to fund and legalize embryonic stem cell research in the state—it failed in Wayne County with 55.15 percent voting against the measure. The initiative narrowly passed the state with 51 percent of support from voters as Missouri became one of the first states in the nation to approve embryonic stem cell research. Despite Wayne County’s longstanding tradition of supporting socially conservative platforms, voters in the county have a penchant for advancing populist causes like increasing the minimum wage. In 2006, Missourians voted on a proposition (Proposition B) to increase the minimum wage in the state to $6.50 an hour—it passed Wayne County with 77.36 percent of the vote. The proposition strongly passed every single county in Missouri with 75.94 percent voting in favor as the minimum wage was increased to $6.50 an hour in the state. During the same election, voters in five other states also strongly approved increases in the minimum wage.

Missouri Presidential Preference Primary (2008)

In the 2008 Missouri Presidential Preference Primary, voters in Wayne County from both political parties supported candidates who finished in second place in the state at large and nationally.

Former U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-New York) received more votes, a total of 1,458, than any candidate from either party in Wayne County during the 2008 Missouri Presidential Preference Primary. Wayne County was Clinton's second best county in Missouri; she only did better in Dunklin County.

Education

Of all adults 25 years of age and older in Wayne County, 59.7% possessed a high school diploma or higher while 6.8% had a bachelor's degree or higher as their highest educational attainment.

Public schools

Private schools