David Sloan has been determined to be the first settler of the city of Kirksville, Adair County, Missouri.

He also unwittingly established the first cemetery in Kirksville, Missouri. The following was taken from the book "History of Adair County" by E. M. Violette, Professor of History, State Normal School, Kirksville, Missouri, 1911: "The first cemetery in the town was started in 1842, near where the Friedman-Shelby shoe factory now stands. That tract of land belonged then to David E. Sloan. He died in 1842 and was buried on his own place, according to his request. Subsequently, others in his family were buried there and some outside of the family also, though it was never intended to make out of the place a public burial ground. There are a few of the grave slabs lying on the ground yet, but many of the bodies have been removed and buried elsewhere."
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David E. Sloan was born in Kentucky in 1794, son of Rev. James Sloan (1769-1853) and Jane Jean (Thompson) Sloan (1769-1831), both of whom were born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, and died in Wayne County, Kentucky.

David Sloan's paternal grandfather was also named David Sloan (1743-1810). He was born in Belfast, Antrim, Ireland, and came to the United States when he was about 16 or 17, settling in Rowan County, North Carolina. He died in Wythe County, Virginia.

On June 14, 1815 in Kentucky, David Sloan married Mary "Polly" Osborn East (1797-1886), also a native of that state. She was the daughter of Capt. North East (1764-1815) and Karenhappuck (Peyton) East (1765-1811) of Kentucky.

David and Mary had 13 or 14 children. Their first three were born in Kentucky, then in 1821 the Sloans moved west into Missouri where the rest of their children were born. These are the children's names which are known:

Theodosia E. Sloan 1815 – 1841
Columbus James Sloan 1816 – 1883
William Miller Sloan 1818 –
Philexna C. Sloan 1820 – 1845
Elizabeth J. Sloan 1823 – 1858
Minerva (Sloan) Kirk 1825 – 1905
Arthusa Catherine Sloan 1827 – 1902
Harvey Sloan 1829 – 1891
Sarah Ann Sloan 1831 – 1900
Sylvester H. Sloan 1836 – 1850
Jane T. Sloan 1838 – 1850
Mary E. Sloan 1840 – 1850
Nancy Ann Davis (Sloan) Miller 1840 – 1925

After coming to Missouri, the Sloan family first settled in Boone County on Silver Creek; but in about 1825, the family moved north to Monroe County, Missouri.

In 1834, David Sloan took up a claim even further north in Missouri, in what was later east Salt River Township of Adair County which was a better location for one of his occupations of bee hunter.

Finally, on April 23, 1840, David seemed to find his ideal location. He staked out a large land claim in the center of Adair County, not knowing that his farm land would eventually become the heart of the city of Kirksville and also the county seat. One of David's daughters later described their new home in a magazine article as "a vast unoccupied territory except for a few settlements."

David Sloan built a home of hewn logs on a spot which is now close to a downtown Kirksville parking lot, 119 N. Main Street and a building now called the Aqua Dome. This is just one block west of the northwest corner of the Kirksville square and courthouse. The business previously located in the Aqua Dome and just across the street from the city parking lot was Stamper Feed Store. Just how far the Sloan farm extended is not known, but we know it apparently went as far south as the old shoe factory on the southeast corner of the junction of of Michigan and Osteopathy Streets in Kirksville as this is where David was buried on his own property. From the location of his cabin, his land therefore extended south for what is now 9 1/2 city blocks and west 4 city blocks.

Two of David's daughters also have distinctions as far as the city of Kirksville goes. Child #12, Mary E. Sloan, born May 10, 1840 is considered the first white child born in the area now included in Kirksville. Child #13 Nancy Ann Davis Sloan was born February 25, 1842 and was almost surely the first white child born in the established town of Kirksville. (These are accounts of white children, because there is no record as to Indian children born on this land when northern Missouri belonged to the native Americans.)

There existed for many years the story that Mary Polly (East) Sloan, David's wife, was a Cherokee Indian, perhaps because they came from Cherokee country. But, her ancestry has been traced by others for several generations back and no Indian blood found.

According to Violette's History of Adair County, David E. Sloan was living in the original Kirksville town site in 1841 when the city was laid out. In 1840, the town which was beginning to form around the Sloan home was known as Long Point or sometimes called Hopkinsville.

A neighbor of David's, named Jesse Kirk, built a post office, hotel, and tavern near the Sloan home. This was on land now occupied by the old Willard Elementary School in Kirksville. Tradition has it that Jesse Kirk treated the town surveyers to a steak dinner in his tavern in exchange for naming the town after him. Otherwise, it might have been named after its first settler and have become Sloansville. However, the county judges had the final say on the name for the town and they are the ones who actually decided upon the name of Kirksville. Jesse Kirk was also the town's first postmaster and first county treasurer. Jesse threw a reception at his hotel for the county judges, county clerk, and hotel residents to celebrate the naming of the city after him. Jesse's wife, Frances, was the grand and gracious hostess, according to Jesse's daughter-in-law Minerva (Sloan) Kirk.

Minerva, daughter of David Sloan, married one of Jesse's sons, John Kirk. She reported that Rev./Dr. Abraham Still (father of Dr. Andrew Taylor Still, founder of Osteopathic medicine in Kirksville) "was the first minister to preach to the early settlers of Adair County, preaching once a month at my father's house."

About her education, Minerva said, "I never had any advantages in getting an education, having gone to school but three days in all my life. My father taught me my letters out of the Bible and by the help of Webster's Dictionary I learned to read and understand."

David did not get to enjoy his farm in the heart of Kirksville for very long as he died in 1842. Minerva said their hearts were greatly saddened by the death of her father which left her mother with 8 children still in the home, Minerva being the oldest. She said they all had to work very hard to support that large of a family, complicated by the fact that "Mother was about the only doctor in the county around here, and it was often necessary for her to be absent for several days at a time."

David Sloan had requested of his family that at his death they bury him on his new farm land, and this they did. His burial location was probably towards the back side of his farm as it is now several city blocks from the site of his house. A tall thin white slab was erected over his grave which had a decorative curtain engraved at the top, his name in a semi-circle, and his dates of birth and death. At this point, David gained another distinction of being the first burial in Kirksville. Reportedly, several other family members were buried around him, and other families in the community were given permission to bury there also. This location became known as Sloan's Cemetery, although it is believed it was not David's intention to establish a cemetery. But, Sloan's Cemetery became the first public cemetery in Kirksville.

At some point in time, when buildings and parking lots began to be built on land purchased near David Sloan's grave, the city moved all the graves but David's to Forest-Llewellyn Cemetery in Kirksville, where David's wife is buried.

By 1954, David's tombstone was broken in several pieces. The land was then owned by the International Shoe Company and a large shoe factory was located to the east of David's grave. A 4-H group took interest in the history of David Sloan and what he meant to Kirksville. With the permission of Elmer Thoelke of the Interenational Shoe Company, David's burial plot was turned over to the club to restore. They collected the broken pieces of his stone and set them in a flat concrete slab over his grave. They placed a fence around his grave and erected a sign along Osteopathy Street marking the spot.

Now, at this writing in 2010, there is no longer a fence or a sign, just the broken tombstone still enbeded in concrete along Osteopathy Street. The large shoe factory which served the community for many years has been torn down. New business buildings have been built on either side of David's grave. A few remember his grave and place flowers there. A couple of trees remain closeby and rements of broken stones of other graves, but none are readable. This writer and daughter cleared the grass from around David's stone in order to photograph it.

It should be noted that in the name SLOAN on David's broken stone, the "O" is partially chipped off making it appear as an "I" so that some think David's name was SLIAN rather than SLOAN.

It should also be noted that there is a Sloans Point Cemetery in rural Adair County, Missouri, located west of Thousand Hills State Park, which is said to have been founded by David Sloan, but he was not buried there, choosing rather to be buried on his farm.

The following is a record of a Sloan Reunion in Kirksville:

The "first" family reunion for descendants and friends of David E. Sloan and Mary Osborn "Polly" East of Kirksville, MO. We will only be staying one night in Kirksville, JULY 16, 2005 Will be getting to the motel by noon on the 16th.

The motel that we choose is the Super 8, 1101 Country Club Dr.; it is located on the South side of Kirksville. Their phone number is 1-660-665-8826. To make reservations tell them for the SLOAN family; they blocked 10 rooms for us. Call early to make reservations.

We plan on showing where DAVID E. SLOAN is buried, where MARY "POLLY" (EAST) SLOAN is buried and where ERBIN EAST SLOAN is also buried. They are all buried in different locations. Also where they lived. We will also be meeting some cousins who still live in the Kirksville area.
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From the writings of J. B. Bowcock, "A History of Kirksville": "Grandpa Sloan was buried in the year 1842. He went with his wife and picked out the place to be buried. It was all big timber back of the Shoe Factory."

[This is where David Sloan is buried, but it is not timber now. The Shoe Factory has been torn down. Business buildings now surround his grave. This was land that he owned at the time.]
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The following is from Violette's History of Adair County, Missouri. Written by Mrs. Otis Miller who is Nancy (Sloan) Miller, the daughter of David Sloan:

Reminiscences of Adair County, Missouri
by MILLER, Mrs. Otis

When the Indians yet lived in Adair county; when wild turkeys, wolves and deer roamed about the uncleared forests which are now cultivated; when everything about was undeveloped, men used to follow a trail from Howard County, going along the Salt River, east of Kirksville, hunting bees. My father, David E. Sloan, and neighbors were following this trail one day, when he found a place near old Wilson Town, where he decided to make a home. He entered land there, built a log house and brought my mother to her new home in 1839. There I was born six months later, and brought to Kirksville when six weeks old. We lived in a cabin which my father built. There were but three or four houses in Kirksville, and they were built of logs.

The first school I attended was held in the court room in the first Adair County Court house, which stood where the National Bank is located. David James, the first county and circuit clerk of Adair County, who had his office in the court house at the time, used to amuse the children by cutting paper baskets which he hung up with string and filled with pebbles. Our first teacher was Nathan Taylor, who afterward went to California, died on the plains and was eaten by the wolves.

When I was young, we wore Lindsey dresses with bright stripes around the skirt. Our sheets were woven from flax and we had flax buttons on our clothing, which was made of home-made material.

The first stores I remember, were conducted by Jesse Coleman Thatcher and "Uncle Patton" Hannah. Howard Sheeks had a groggery shop near our home. Our mother would hardly allow us to steal a glance in that direction. We lived in a house, part wood and part frame, where Murphy-Mills & Garges' store now stands.

When grown I married and lived in the country for a time. During the war, however, I lived in a home where Hermann Herboth now has a residence, on North High Street. On the morning of August 6th, 1862, I went to my sister's to borrow a washboard. She lived in the home place. I didn't know there was a soldier in town, but when I reached there, the house was full of rebels, who were much excited, and talking of the coming fight. I hurried home, and seeing a toy which belonged to the children -- a drum on which was painted a picture of a Union flag, I took it and hid it in the cellar, fearing the rebels might see it and do us harm. I was preparing to take my two children and to go the cellar for safety, when my mother came, and against my protest, sent the children to the country with a minister who was riding on an old flea-bitten horse. Later she sent back for me. Before we had gone two blocks, the muskets were cracking like corn in a popper. Some of the rebel solders entered our house, and from there gave the forlorn hope signal. We stopped out north of town, stood on an old rail fence and watched the battle.

About dusk we returned home. All day I had been separated from my children. Our house was so mutilated that we could no longer live there. Most everything on the place had either been destroyed or stolen. Somebody had dropped a pair of pillows across the back fence, unable to get away with his entire load. When I stepped inside the door, my feet were in a great clot of human blood. Several rebels had been killed there. We supposed our sheets and other white goods were taken to the academy, which was being used as a hospital, to be used for binding the wounds of the soldiers. The walls were full of holes from the cannon balls fired by the Union soldiers. One ball, which had cut through several studding in the wall, broke the side rail of the bed. Another, entering through the fire-place bursted the cook-stove to mere fragments.

I went over to spend the night at Mrs. Turner's, and saw nine dead rebel soldiers taken from a corn-field, about where Mrs. Sarah Avery's residence now stands. A man came to Mrs. Turner's door and asked to see the lady whose house had been so badly shot up. I went to the door. He had a bolt of purple calico which had been unrolled and then wrapped about his arms. This he asked me to take to make dresses for me and the children. I refused, but he left it for me, knowing I needed it. It came from one of the stores which had that day been rifled.

The troublous times of the Civil War are passed; the old wounds are healed, and many of its stirring episodes have been forgotten. One of the tangible evidences of the heart rendering scenes through which we passed, as well as one of our treasured souvenirs, is a piece of board which was a part of the siding of our old home. It is perforated with a cannon ball, one of the missles which almost destroyed our home on the day of the battle.

--Mrs. Otis Miller
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It is hoped that someday the city of Kirksville and/or the descendants of this family will do something to maintain the grave site of David Sloan and perhaps even erect a proper monument to his honor, stating his importance to the history of Kirksville.

- This information compiled by Blytha (Dennis) Ellis, Historian, from various online sources and from personal knowledge.