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Lawson's Station is in the eastern part of
Washington County near the St. Francois County line. It is
unknown at this time exactly when Lawson's Station was established
but was most likely in 1858 when the St. Louis, Iron Mountain, &
Southern Railway was built through the area. There are a
couple of listings in the Washington County Deed Book Index between
Reuben Lawson & the railroad. I didn't have time to look up
the deeds but this is most likely the person who founded Lawson's
Station. There are no Lawsons in the 1850 WashCoMo or St.FranCoMo. census. My
Robert Lawson came to St. Francois
Co. from Kentucky between 1852 & 1854. Reuben was probably a
relative & may possibly arrived at the same time. Need to do
more research on this.
Lawson's Station was in existence during the Civil War:
By the middle of October the
reconstruction of the Iron Mountain railroad was underway. It
was well guarded with Brig. Gen. Madison Miller's headquarters
at Lawson's Station seven miles northeast of Mineral Point. It
was said that he was a popular and highly efficient commander
and had enough troops under his command to "eat up for
breakfast" any rebel forces that could be mustered against him.
Details of work parties were dispatched daily. Telegraph
communication was being restored and rapid progress was being
made at repairing track and rebuilding bridges including five
bridges over Mill Creek averaging 120-130 feet long and 15-20
feet high and the south Big River bridge, 180 feet long and 35
feet high.
Just when everyone thought they were safe again, an incident
occurred which sent many citizens fleeing to the Union troops
for protection. A report of the incident appeared in the
Missouri Republican:
Lawson's Station - October 15, 1864: "..........A pretty heavy
scare occurred in and around the country here yesterday. Women
and children, with a sprinkling of men, white and black, flocked
into camp by the dozen, with the report that Potosi was burned
and that Mineral Point and other places were in the process of
being sacked by Magruder at the head of 6,000 Indians.
Gen. Miller immediately sent out a scout to look into the
matter, but before his return reliable information was received
that no force had been seen or heard of in that vicinity. An
Italian was the first to start the story - he received a worse
scare when he was caught than before. He stated he counted 600
and left.
The poor fellow was terribly frightened when threats were made
by the boys (in jest) of hanging him. It is thought he will
emigrate.........."
By October 18th the railroad was running to the 2nd bridge
south of Lawson's Station and was expected to be running all the
way to Pilot Knob in about 10 days. The following appeared in
the Missouri Republican: "Any number of refugees from
Washington, St. Francois and Iron counties are now returning
home, mostly on foot, carrying in many cases, all the personal
goods they have in the world.
Tiff - It is believed that the town of
Tiff was established in the 1900's. The Tiff Store was built
1905. Commonly the word "tiff" means a slight quarrel or spat.
This definition could give the impression that residents of Tiff
argue a lot! However, in this instance the word tiff has a
different meaning. It is associated with the lead mining
of Washington County. Lead is usually found in a heavy rock
called Baryte(barite) which is quite common here. Baryte is locally
referred to as "tiff" a slang term that was derived from the early French miners
of the area.
INTERESTING NOTE: When Gene & I went to
Hawaii for our Silver (25th) Wedding Anniversay in 1994 we were having lunch at a small
restaurant on the Big Island when we noticed a map on the wall of the restaurant. This map
was of the United States and featured "TOWNS THAT REALLY EXIST"
and named many towns throughout the country that had unusual names. On this map in
southeast Missouri was featured none other than the town of "TIFF"
right here in Washington County! |
