Editing Clay County, Missouri (section)

==History==
Clay County was settled primarily from migrants from the [[Upper South]]ern states of [[Kentucky]], [[Tennessee]], and [[Virginia]]. They brought [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]] and slaveholding traditions with them, and quickly started cultivating crops similar to those in [[Middle Tennessee]] and Kentucky: hemp and tobacco. Clay was one of several counties settled mostly by Southerners to the north and south of the [[Missouri River]]. Given their culture and traditions, this area became known as [[Little Dixie (Missouri)|Little Dixie]]. In 1860, enslaved persons made up 25% or more of the county's population.<ref>T. J. Stiles, ''Jesse James: The Last Rebel of the Civil War'', New York: Vintage Books, 2003, pp.10-11</ref>

The 1828 execution of [[Annice (slave)|Annice]], a slave owned by Jeremiah Prior, was the first to occur in Clay County.<ref>"In 1828 a slave woman named Annice drowned two of her small children in a stream; she was put upon trial, convicted, and was hung in Liberty, August 23rd following, this being the first legal execution in the county." [http://genealogytrails.com/mo/clay/hist_county.htm County History: Clay County, Missouri]. Retrieved November 23, 2017.</ref> She was also the first female slave executed in the state of Missouri.<ref name=f1>{{cite book |last=Frazier|first=Harriet C.|date=2001|title=Slavery and Crime in Missouri, 1773-1865|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GCwC9JMUh2EC|publisher=McFarland|page=170|isbn=9780786409778}}</ref>

Many members of the  Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints found refuge in Clay County in November 1833 after they were driven from Jackson County, Missouri.  In 1836, mobs and the Missouri State militia viciously drove the members of the church from the county.<ref>Jenson, Andrew. ''Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints'' (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1941) p. 144-145</ref> Leaders of this church, most notably [[Joseph Smith]], were imprisoned for some months in Clay County in the [[Liberty Jail|jail at Liberty]]. In May 2012, the LDS Church built the [[Kansas City Missouri Temple]] six miles southwest of the Liberty Jail site at 7001 Searcy Creek Parkway in Kansas City, Missouri.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/kansas-city-missouri-temple/ |title=Kansas City Missouri LDS (Mormon) Temple |publisher=Ldschurchtemples.com |access-date=July 10, 2013 }}</ref>