​Looking Back: The Mysteries of Moreland School Road

by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society
​
 
The facts:

• There was a Moreland School which became part of the Blue Springs School District
• In her 1937 M. A. Thesis, “Place Names of Five West Central Counties of Missouri,” Anne Atchison, a student at the University of Missouri gave this description for Moreland School. “In southwestern Sniabar Township. It was named for the landowner, Joseph Moreland. (Litchford)

 
Trust me when I tell you that I have spent several hours trying to learn more about Moreland School, but I have found nothing to assure me that what I’m about to write is true. When writing nearly 150 years “after the facts” it is often difficult to back up my theories, so I will leave you with a mystery. (I miss being able to do research at  the Jackson County Historical Society when it was opened in the Jackson County Court House in Independence on a daily basis.)
 
After studying the U. S. Census records from 1840 through 1900, I can tell you Moreland did not stay in one place for very long. Joseph A. Moreland was born to Stephen and Elizabeth Moreland in Ohio on April 8, 1838.  In 1840, the family lived in Ohio. In 1850 they were living in District 85, Parke, Indiana. Sometime before 1860, the entire family, Stephen, Elizabeth, their five children, son-in-law and three grandchildren had all moved to Maryville, Missouri. Stephen died there in 1859.
 
It was in Maryville that Joseph Moreland married Lucinda “Kate” Woods. By 1870 Joseph, his bride and his mother were living in Jackson County. Their address was Township 47, Range 31. Two of Joseph’s uncles (Stephen’s brothers) were already living nearby in Creighton, Bates County, Missouri.
 
According to the 1870 U. S. Census Joseph A. Moreland, his bride and his mother were living in Jackson County. He was a land speculator and his home was Township 47, Range 31, Jackson, Missouri. His post office was Lee’s Summit. . Two of Joseph’s uncles (Stephen’s brothers) were already living nearby in Creighton, Bates County, Missouri.
 
The Moreland home/land would not have been close to Moreland School as Township 47, Range 31 has Lee’s Summit on the northwest and Greenwood on the southcentral edge.  Although I cannot be certain where Moreland School was, Moreland School Road is in Sni-A-Bar Township 48 and would have been in Section 30 or 31 as an 1877 Plat Map shows three schools in the area. 

​Sni-A-Bar (Green) Township 48, Range 30 in in the upper right-hand
Side. Moreland School may be in Section 7 or 8.  Or it may be in Section 12
of Township 48, Range 31. THE MYSTERY!
The Moreland property was in Prairie Township (lower left)
 
By 1880 Joseph A. Moreland and his family were living in Denver, Colorado. The 1890 Census, as well as the 1900 U. S. Census records their residence in Los Angeles, California.  Over the years, Moreland School Road has gotten longer. I find it interesting that one of the main roads going East and West from Grain Valley to beyond Missouri 7 Highway is named for a man who lived in the area for such a brief time while families that have been in the area for four or five generations have no such claim.
 
So, when was Moreland School built? Was it built on Joseph Moreland land? Where was that land?  It’s a mystery!
 
Editor’s Note: Just South of Moreland School Road is Litchford Road which runs South to Colburn Road. Could that be the Litchford Anne Atchison is referencing in her research? It’s a mystery…