James Hunter Audrain

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James Hunter Audrain (December 29, 1781 – November 10, 1831) was a colonel in the Missouri militia who served during the War of 1812. Audrain County, Missouri, is named after him.

Audrain was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1781. He married Mary Elizabeth Wells in Louisville, Kentucky, on December 12, 1806, and they had nine children.

In 1810, he settled in the Six Mile District near Fort Osage, Missouri, and went into business with his brother Francois. In the War of 1812, he was listed as one of eight spies and guides in an expedition against the Massassineway villages led by Lieut. Col. John B. Campbell, a notable early American victory.

He later lived in O’Fallon, Missouri, where he farmed, ran a tavern, and operated a gristmill on Peruque Creek called Bulls Hell Mill. Audrain eventually settled in St. Charles County and was elected in 1830 to the Missouri General Assembly (state legislature). He died on November 10, 1831, while visiting the home of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.