Why is the county seat located in Jackson, MO rather than the larger city of Cape Girardeau?
Originally Cape Girardeau was the County Seat, but it was moved to Jackson in 1814 because of a land dispute. When Louis Lorimier died in 1812 his Spanish Land Grant had still not been approved by the Federal Government. In 1813 Territorial Governor William Clark said that the seat of government needed to be on non-disputed land with clear title, so he told the County Court that the Seat of Justice had to be moved from Cape Girardeau. Most historians believe that the reason his Spanish land grant was not approved was that during the Revolutionary War he sided with the British. All of the other Spanish Land Grants that were issued were approved at a much earlier time. Lorimier’s was finally approved but it was many years later.
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