This history of Clarence is from available published articles, records
and by personnel interviews of local residents. In the early 1800's,
pioneers came from other settled areas of the U.S., parts of MO and the eastern part of Shelby County to establish new homes in Clarence, in the hopes of improving the quality of their lives, some came because of their adventurous spirit. They came in covered wagons, drawn by oxen, mules, horses, on foot, or any mode of transportation available. Some came down the Ohio River, up the Mississippi to Hannibal, then overland, bringing their families, livestock and possessions to the swampy land of Clarence, that was covered with head high prairie grass. Some stayed only a short while and others stayed all their lives
and were the ancestors of many of us here today. Grant Hopper built one of the first houses in the area, north of the then non-existent Clarence. It was made of native logs and lumber that he hauled
from Palmyra. Other early settlers were the Griswold, Schwada, Herron, Lampkin, Sheets that came from Ohio & Indiana. Some settled north and some south of the future town, before it was laid out in October 1857. The land was conveyed by the Federal Government, to the state, from the state to the county. The corporate limits were a mile square, with the boundaries; beginning at the NW comer of the NE qtr of see 17, township 57, range 12 running south one mile to the SW comer of the SE qtr of see 17, then east one mile to a stake, then North one mile to a stake, thence west one mile to the beginning.
The first land was tilled by oxen and a wooden plow, and as they had no means of working the tall prairie grass, that had been turned
over, they took their broad axe and chopped a hole in the dirt and planted corn in hopes of it growing. It is said that they barely grew enough to keep the livestock alive during the first winters, as it was about three years before the tall grass deteriorated enough to be worked down. "Early 1817 five of these red-blooded pioneers set out from Bourbon County, Kentucky, to the Boone Lick settlement on the Missouri. They were Edward Whaley, Aaron Forman, Aaron Forman Jr., Joseph Forman and David Adams. Whaley, the leader of the expedition, Forman Sr., and David Adams were men past middle age, the other two members being much younger. Crossing the Mississippi at St. Louis, they proceeded up the Missouri to the Boone Lick settlement which they found too crowded for them. When the party
left Bourbon county, friends and relatives were making preparations to remove to Missouri and settle what is now Marion county, so the Whaley party conceived the plan of crossing overland from the Missouri to the Mississippi, cutting across the angle between the two rivers."
"They planned to strike Salt River somewhere along its upper course and follow it to the Mississippi. With this idea in mind, Whaley and his
companions made their way up Grand River until they were about due west of Shelby County. At the point they turned east and continued in an easterly direction, bearing somewhat to the northeast. From Captain Franklin Whaley, son of this early explorer, we have the story of this first expedition across Shelby County. And these details are meager in the extreme. Whaley visited Shelby County many times in later life but changes made by the hand of man had made the course of his exploration party unrecognizable. But this much we know. During their eastward march they had kept to the heads of the small streams running to the south. They did not venture far out on the several prairies they had noticed but skirted the edges of the timber. As best one can find out at this late date, these first white men entered Shelby County
somewhere between Clarence and the road that runs east and west two miles south of town. Their course must have been about parallel to the Burlington Railroad, but south of it from a mile to two miles. Capt. Whaley said that all of the streams crossed were small ones hence the explorers might have been traversing the country lying near the head waters of the several forks of Crooked Creek. The party may have borne to the northward but not to any great extent, for when they finally struck Salt River they found the course of that stream to from the south to the north. "One would give much today to see a film of this journey
which is of so much historic interest to the folks of this county. One can
imagine the party standing in the middle of what is now the state road
running north and south through Clarence. To the north of them lay acres of prairie, the tall prairie grass, high as a man's head or even higher, waving in the summer winds where now there are fertile farms, buildings and the city of Clarence itself. South and east lay the virgin forests that grew along Otter and the branches of Crooked Creek. Not a house or a fence to be seen in any direction. No cars or trucks or teams passed by on their way, to or from town as they pass in steady streams at present. Clarence, the principal town of western Shelby, is only about a mile and a half from the Macon county line. Before the building of the Hannibal and St. Jo railroad, the site of Clarence was a swampy waste where water stood far into the summer months. A man by the name of Fleming Turner had first owned the land but sold it
without occupying it to the John Duff Company, the contracting company, which was building the railroad through this section. John Duff laid out the town Oct. 20,1857 and named it after one of his sons.
The only building in the town when it was laid out, was the small frame
depot, built in August 1857. It was about the center of the new town plant and a little west of the old depot and was 6 x 8 ft. He owned a
farm about three miles northeast of Clarence. Note here, it might be interesting for people living in this section to look up on your farm deeds and see who owns this place now. All owners names are on these deeds. Wilson Hamilton built a small shop a little north of the
depot, but the firs store was built by C.R. Watson, on the south side of the railroad in 1858. It was located where the Shelby County State Bank stood. That same year, a post office was established with C.R. Watson as the first postmaster. The first home built in Clarence was that of James M. Matteson, located some two blocks north of the depot on the southwest comer of Willow and Center streets. Matteson died of wounds received during the Civil War, but his family lived in this first house for many years. A few years earlier "Roley" Threlkeld, a wagon maker by trade, located south of the site of Enterprise, had once put up a wagon shop. His work was mightily appreciated by the neighbors, and he arrived just in time to build several prairie schooners which were to make the trip to California in gold rush of '49. Scarce as the
inhabitants of west Shelby were, a large quota of them were lured to the gold fields search of the hidden wealth. The wagons, built by
Threlkel were crude, but sturdy, and some of them were still in service after the Civil War. Clarence has experienced several big fires which caused much loss to a small town. On Sept. 23, 1879, Chestnut street, (south front street) opposite the depot buildings, burned were Halls' block, including Halls' Olive Hotel, Whiltby & Co.'s dry goods ore, a saloon and barber ship. On Feb. 15, 1884, the following business houses we destroyed by fire: R.E. Dale's restaurant, C.Z. Eberhardt's grocery store; M. Stahl's harness shop, Timbrook Bros', McWilliam's and Wright's grocery stores, A.0. Dunhama(sp?)'s shoe shop, William Shutters' hardware store, R. Richardson's clothing house, Birch Roan's barber shop, the post office, A. Clark postmaster. John Lair's grist, saw and carding mill which stood the present location of the Methodist parsonage burned in the fall of 1883 and the Clarence Creamery owned William B. Lister in the east part of town burned in July 1884.
In 1921 a disastrous fire consumed several business buildings at the east end of south main street including Courier" and all of its valuable files. In 1924 Clarence was devastated when the big mule barn burned to the ground.