Bird's Point
Pencil drawing by Alexander A. Simplot done in 1861 and published in Harper's Weekly (Missouri History Museum)
The community of Bird's point was located on the Missouri shore of the Mississippi River directly across where the Ohio empties in to the Mississippi. It was named after Captain John Bird who was born on the French Broad River in East Tennessee on September 26, 1795. His family moved to Missouri when he was a baby and settled in Cape Girardeau County. After a short time there the family moved to the Bird's Point location. In September 1820 he married Miss Ingabo Bird (different family), daughter of Abraham Bird formally of North Carolina. In November 1825, John Bird and his brothers William and Thompson created a partnership (William Bird owned the property now known as Cairo). John Bird was known throughout the county to be a good man that often loaned money to his neighbors when they were need. He managed to accumulate a considerable amount of wealth on his plantation which he seldom left. Bird died on Sunday morning, September 20, 1868 at his home (The Charleston Courier, Friday October 2, 1868).