Saline County is just to the west and borders the county I live in.
In the 1880's or so, books were published regarding the histories of the various counties in Missouri, from their founding up to the publishing of the book.
With a little bit of a Google Search, you could find the history of Saline Co. and download it for free.
If memory serves, Saline County was established out of Howard or Cooper co. probaBly in the 1820's, and is part of the "Little Dixie"area of Missouri.