In 1839, with the Platte Purchase, some of many settlers from Kentucky joined to establish Platte City. Among them was William McClung Paxton, born March 2, 1819, in Mason County, who settled in Martinsville, now Platte City. An attorney, merchant, farmer, mill operator, abstractor, banker, public administrator, genealogist, historian, poet, and civic leader, he traveled to Kentucky in 1840 to wed Mary Forman, and together they returned to Platte County. A devoted Presbyterian, he was also a dedicated Mason with membership in several Masonic bodies. In 1897, he authored the Annals of Platte County, a leading reference for county history from its exploration, with genealogies of its noted families and sketches of pioneers and distinguished people, and he accumulated an addendum until his death on July 21, 1916. By then, he had witnessed, participated in, and chronicled the evolution of Platte County and Platte City from a pristine wilderness to a modern civilization.