Benge Route
Collection, BCL-TOT-B
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The Benge route through Bollinger County follows the Jackson to Greenville road. The earliest settlers were in this area since the 1790’s and had established market and familial roads. The Jackson to Greenville road was surveyed in 1837 for State Hwy. 34 and also closely followed the Burr Postal Road map of 1839 that shows the post stop in “Greene” which is the predecessor of Marble Hill. The Military trail that also closely followed the earlier postal and family roads was used for the Civil War and helped to establish future state and federal roads in the area.
Coming from Jackson, the trail would have gone through Burfordville where George F. Bollinger had a large mill and settlement.
Continuing southwest, the path diverged in a few spots from present state Hwy. 34 and will be shown on an accompanying map. By the time the detachment had reached Marble Hill, they were being pressed very hard. Initial county historians believed they had crossed at the future swinging bridge location, but Mr. Russell Weisman, MoDot historian has aligned present roads with a digital (GPS) version of the 1837 plat and believed the crossing would have been a little further east. In digging through family plats, we found that the very first Lutes house (1817)(founders of Lutesville/Marble Hill) was a two story log house hiding under additions and modern siding and matched the 1837 plat of family locations. This caused us to research further in Marble Hill and found the landowner right beside the creek was told that the crossing which was the Military trail and early pioneer crossing matched the 1837 plat. So when they reached Marble Hill, they entered just at the edge of town on the Military trail that is now vacated but falls just behind the homes that face Broad Street. This continues south and crosses the Hwy. 34 bypass into Mr. & Mrs. Dwight Mock’s field where the creek crossing is located. He has owned the farm for 25 years and the person he bought it from had owned it for 50. He was told the crossing is where the early pioneers went for ice in the winter and then crossed to do business with the Lutes family. The crossing is directly across from what would be the future jail and ice house just south of present Crown St. They faced a large hill and road that is the present Ellen St. and just at the top of that hill is the Log house that presently belongs to Bill and Louis Acup. They continued on this street to where it would meet Possum Creek Road (BCR 502). Continuing southwest on Possum creek road, they would have gone past a family homestead of Thomas Adams. Continuing on BCR 502 another mile, the county changed the road in the early 1900s. The road used to run on the north side of the creek for about a half mile and came out on the present BCR 519. They still call BCR 519 the Military Trail even though a portion of it has been vacated for over 50 years. BCR 519 at the time of the Trail of Tears would have gone all the way through to meet BCR 506. BCR 506 continues southwest toward Buchanan. BCR 506 on the modern day maps runs into State Hwy H. On the 1906 Bollinger County Plat map, the county road ran continuously to where it met 702. There was no Hwy H in 1906. Continue southwest on BCR 702 until it crosses State Hwy Y and becomes BCR 738.
The other witness structure and eyewitness account falls at the edge of our county. The McMinn family lived in this area and built their log cabin in the early 1820s. According to the U. S. Senate Document No. 120, 25 Congress, second session, p. 535, Samuel’s son Washington McMinn remembered distinctly the removal of the Cherokee Indians. He mentioned a peculiarity which he observed among the passing tribes which was not generally known, that the Cherokee tribes had in their possession many African slaves.” Their plantation was where the Benge detachment would have crossed Castor River into what is now Wayne County. In 1837, BCR 738 went all the way to the edge of Bollinger County and met Wayne CR. 224 and on to Greenville. Now the last short portion has been vacated by the county. The Benge route in Bollinger County is shown on the modern county map.
We are so fortunate to have not one but two witness structures on this route that are both in excellent shape for their age.
Part of the Bollinger County Trail of Tears Archive, this collection features documents, maps, photographs, and books relating to the research of the Benge Route as it passed through the historical Bollinger County region.
Coming from Jackson, the trail would have gone through Burfordville where George F. Bollinger had a large mill and settlement.
Continuing southwest, the path diverged in a few spots from present state Hwy. 34 and will be shown on an accompanying map. By the time the detachment had reached Marble Hill, they were being pressed very hard. Initial county historians believed they had crossed at the future swinging bridge location, but Mr. Russell Weisman, MoDot historian has aligned present roads with a digital (GPS) version of the 1837 plat and believed the crossing would have been a little further east. In digging through family plats, we found that the very first Lutes house (1817)(founders of Lutesville/Marble Hill) was a two story log house hiding under additions and modern siding and matched the 1837 plat of family locations. This caused us to research further in Marble Hill and found the landowner right beside the creek was told that the crossing which was the Military trail and early pioneer crossing matched the 1837 plat. So when they reached Marble Hill, they entered just at the edge of town on the Military trail that is now vacated but falls just behind the homes that face Broad Street. This continues south and crosses the Hwy. 34 bypass into Mr. & Mrs. Dwight Mock’s field where the creek crossing is located. He has owned the farm for 25 years and the person he bought it from had owned it for 50. He was told the crossing is where the early pioneers went for ice in the winter and then crossed to do business with the Lutes family. The crossing is directly across from what would be the future jail and ice house just south of present Crown St. They faced a large hill and road that is the present Ellen St. and just at the top of that hill is the Log house that presently belongs to Bill and Louis Acup. They continued on this street to where it would meet Possum Creek Road (BCR 502). Continuing southwest on Possum creek road, they would have gone past a family homestead of Thomas Adams. Continuing on BCR 502 another mile, the county changed the road in the early 1900s. The road used to run on the north side of the creek for about a half mile and came out on the present BCR 519. They still call BCR 519 the Military Trail even though a portion of it has been vacated for over 50 years. BCR 519 at the time of the Trail of Tears would have gone all the way through to meet BCR 506. BCR 506 continues southwest toward Buchanan. BCR 506 on the modern day maps runs into State Hwy H. On the 1906 Bollinger County Plat map, the county road ran continuously to where it met 702. There was no Hwy H in 1906. Continue southwest on BCR 702 until it crosses State Hwy Y and becomes BCR 738.
The other witness structure and eyewitness account falls at the edge of our county. The McMinn family lived in this area and built their log cabin in the early 1820s. According to the U. S. Senate Document No. 120, 25 Congress, second session, p. 535, Samuel’s son Washington McMinn remembered distinctly the removal of the Cherokee Indians. He mentioned a peculiarity which he observed among the passing tribes which was not generally known, that the Cherokee tribes had in their possession many African slaves.” Their plantation was where the Benge detachment would have crossed Castor River into what is now Wayne County. In 1837, BCR 738 went all the way to the edge of Bollinger County and met Wayne CR. 224 and on to Greenville. Now the last short portion has been vacated by the county. The Benge route in Bollinger County is shown on the modern county map.
We are so fortunate to have not one but two witness structures on this route that are both in excellent shape for their age.
Part of the Bollinger County Trail of Tears Archive, this collection features documents, maps, photographs, and books relating to the research of the Benge Route as it passed through the historical Bollinger County region.
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