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"Past 2 Present"

 Cass County, Iowa

I have no books which are specifically for this County, but most counties are included in the Iowa statewide books

Click here for a brief history of Cass County

Periodicals

• Iowa Militia Roll 1875 (April 1969)
• Marriage Records of the Zion Lutheran Church, Atlantic (Winter 1992)
• Teacher's Attendance (Summer 1995)

CASS COUNTY lies in the second tier east of the Missouri River in the third north of the south line of the State and contains sixteen townships, making an area of five hundred seventy-six squares miles. It was within the limits of Demoine County from 1834 to 1836 and was a part of the old county of Keokuk from 1837 to 1840. By act of the Legislature of 1851 Cass County was established with its present boundaries. The first white settlers within its limits were Mormons who stopped there on their exodus from Nauvoo in 1845-6. They established a station near the west bank of the Nishnabotna River, two and a half miles west of the point where Lewis stands. It was near the old Indian village of the Pottawattamies and was named Indiantown. For many years this was the chief trading post on that route from the Mississippi to the Missouri River.
     The first permanent settlers in the county were Jeremiah Bradshaw, V. M. Conrad, Peter Hedges, David Chapman, Joseph Everly and J. M. Watson who took claims near Indiantown in 1852. Here Bradshaw opened the first store in the county and a post-office was established called Cold Springs. In the summer of 1852 R. D. McGeehon built a log cabin and opened a farm near Turkey Creek. The first election was held at Uniontown in August, 1852, at which but thirteen votes were polled. The county officers were chosen in 1853, consisting of Jeremiah Bradshaw, judge; V. M. Conrad, treasurer; C. E. Woodward, clerk; Francis E. Ball, sheriff. Thomas G. Palmer and Milton Richards were chosen commissioners to locate the county-seat and on the 11th of March, 1853, selected the site where Lewis stands. This town was laid out on the east side of the Nishnabotna River the next year and became the county-seat. The first house was built by S. M. Tucker and the first newspaper was established by J. C. Brown in 1861, named the Cass County Gazette. In 1868 the town of Atlantic was located on the line of the Rock Island Railroad which was built through the northern part of the county in that year. After a bitter contest the county-seat was removed from Lewis to Atlantic in November, 1869. Anita and Wiota were located on the line of the Rock Island Railroad.

Source: History of Iowa: From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century by Benjamin F. Gue. New York: The Century History Co. 1903 #