Editing Seligman, Missouri (section)

===Early settlers===
Seligman originally developed from a small trading post that built up around or near the homestead of Andrew, George, John, Joshua and Jacob Roller from [[Scott County, Virginia]], some of the first permanent European settlers to arrive in the area in the 1830s.<ref name="Mitchell et al, p. 8, 213">Mitchell et al, p. 8, 213.</ref> At that time the region was a rough-hewn wilderness covered with large timber.

In May 1841, the county court approved construction of the first road through the territory, known today as Old Wire Road. This road originally was a trace cut by hundreds of [[Cherokee]] in 1838 as they wound their way across Missouri to [[Tahlequah, Oklahoma]] as part of the federal government's [[Indian Removal Act of 1830]] or "[[Trail of Tears]]", which passed about five miles west of the Roller homestead. Shortly thereafter, a telegraph line was built which followed this trail, and Old Wire Road was built following the telegraph line.<ref>Mitchell et al, p. 158.</ref>

By 1848 the [[Butterfield Overland Mail|Butterfield Stage Coach]] had established a route through the area from [[St. Louis]], Missouri to [[Fayetteville, Arkansas]],<ref>Mitchell et al, p. 12.</ref> and brought even more settlers into the area. By the 1860s, the site had developed into a trading post called ''Roller's Ridge'', though the earliest original name of the community may have been ''Herdsville,'' named after Adam Herd or Hurd, who was also an early pioneer.<ref name ="History of Seligman">{{cite web|title=Seligman Chamber of Commerce |url=http://www.seligmanchamber.com}}Retrieved 2013-02-10.</ref>

Education and religion were avidly important to the early settlers. Two schools were built in the area for local children, one north of town about which little is known, and one south of town called "Red Chink", named for the red clay that was used to finish the log construction. These were both subscription schools, a common practice in which each child paid the teacher a dollar a month. School terms were only six months long, but sometimes semesters were extended if enough students enrolled.<ref>Mitchell et al, p. 229.</ref> A [[Baptists|Baptist]] church was also constructed on the outskirts of town, but few records remain.<ref>Mitchell et al, p. 67.</ref>