Editing Marion County, Missouri (section)

==History==
Marion County was created by the state legislature in 1845 from parts of Ralls and Shelby Counties. It was settled from Virginia and Kentucky by farmers looking for cheap farmland; some owned slaves. It was named after Francis Marion, a general in the Revolutionary War. The county seat is Palmyra, which was established in 1833 and became a locally important river port on the Mississippi. By the late 1800s, the county was the center of a thriving agricultural community. Tobacco was the main crop, though cotton, wheat, barley, oats, and hay were also grown. Livestock included horses, mules, and cattle.<ref>Thomas C. Hines, ''The History of Marion County, Missouri: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its People and Its Principal Interests'' (1912).</ref>
 
The best known native son is [[Mark Twain]] (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) born in 1835, in the village of Florida. His youthful experiences in Hannibal became the setting for the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.<ref>Paul A. Shackel, "America’s home town: fiction, Mark Twain, and the re‐creation of Hannibal, Missouri." ''International Journal of Heritage Studies'' 17.3 (2011): 197-213. [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Paul-Shackel/publication/254316024_America-s_home_town_Fiction_Mark_Twain_and_the_re-creation_of_Hannibal_Missouri/links/570ba73608ae2eb94223a774/America-s-home-town-Fiction-Mark-Twain-and-the-re-creation-of-Hannibal-Missouri.pdf online]</ref> Other prominent locals included Governor [[John S. Phelps]], and Confederate General A.P. Morehead. The region was bitterly divided in the Civil War but Unionist elements prevailed. Palmyra was the site of a skirmish in 1862, and the county was the site of several other battles and raids. Today, Marion County continues to be primarily an agricultural county. It is home to a number of historic sites and buildings, with a major tourist industry focused on Mark Twain characters and settings.<ref>Robert L. Allen and F. Charles Petrillo, eds., ''History of Marion County, Missouri'' (1999).</ref>