In 1820, Ralls County was the cradle of northeast Missouri civilization. Ralls was a "Benton Baby," born from a political deal brokered by the powerful Thomas Hart Benton and named for an ordinary New
Dorcas Maria Hampton (1839-1927) was born an illegitimate daughter of Kentucky and raised alongside her biological father’s slaves on a pioneer Ralls County, Missouri farm. Whippings ordered by her st