BETHANY.,The county seat of Harrison county, Bethany township, was first settled in the year 1845, by a party from Tennessee. It contains three churches, viz., Christian, Baptist and Methodist, one Masonic lodge, (Bethany No. 97.) Population about 800. County Judges: J. E. Roberts,E. S. Ellis, Willis Allen. Sheriff: John P. Devers. (Missouri State Gazetteer..., 1860)
BETHANY, the county-seat, is a thrifty, healthy town, situated about a mile east of Big Creek, in the center of a beautiful and fertile country. The town was first settled by Tennesseeans in 1845, and now contains three churches—Christian, Methodist, and Baptist— a Masonic Lodge, High School, steam saw and grist mill, two hotels, a variety of stores, mechanics, etc., and 600 inhabitants. To the east and north of Bethany there is a vast body of timber sufficient to supply it for coming ages. On the west there is one vast and boundless prairie, which extends far beyond the reach of the eye, nearly all of which is yet unsettled. From Bethany to Hamilton, on Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, 42 miles, to St. Joseph, 65 miles. (Parker's Missouri as it is in 1867..., 1867)