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"Past 2 Present"
"Past
2 Present"
Van Buren County, Iowa
Books
-
Portrait and Biographical Album of Jefferson and
Van Buren Counties, Iowa. / Chicago: Lake City Pub. Co., 1890,
657 pgs. (Surname list
and Table of Contents coming soon)
Periodicals
Hawkeye Heritage:
Palimpsest:
- Furlough (May/June 1979)
- The Salubria Story (Abner Kneeland) (March/April 1975)
- Phil Strong's Buckskin Breeches (Winter 1987)
- Possessed of a Restless Spirit: a Young Girl's Memories of the
Southern Iowa Frontier (September/October 1985)
- Smith Wildman Brookhart (November/December 1982)
Annals of Iowa History:
- Van Buren County (April 1884) TEXT Only
- Place-names of Van Buren County (July 1931) TEXT Only
- Place-names of Van Buren County (October 1931) TEXT Only
VANBUREN COUNTY was created in December,
1836, and named for Martin Van Buren who had been elected President of
the United States. It then included a portion of the present county of
Davis. In 1838 enough territory was taken from Henry and the original
county of Demoine to make the boundaries of Van Buren as they now are,
after detaching a part of its territory which was added to Davis. The
present county contains four hundred eighty-four square miles and lies
in the second tier west of the Mississippi River with the southern
boundary the Missouri State line. The Des Moines River flows through it
in a southeasterly direction for a distance of forty-five miles, having
numerous tributaries and borders of excellent timber, dividing the
county about equally between woodland and prairie. Coal and building
stone are abundant as well as water power. The first settler in the
county was Abel Galland who took a claim near where Farmington stands,
in 1832.
The first white man who built a cabin where
Keosauqua now stands was John Silvers who took a claim in 1835. During
the same year Isaac W. McCarthy, John Tolman, E. Pardom and others
settled in teh same vicinity. In the fall Silvers sold his claim to Mr.
Seigler whose wife was the first woman in the county. In 1837 a company
composed of James and Edwin Manning, James Hall, John J. Fairman and
others purchased the Seigler land and laid out a town which was named
Keosauqua, the Indian name for the Des Moines River.
Farmington had been previously laid out and was
the first county-seat where Judge David Irwin held the first court in
April, 1837. Many towns were platted in the early days and the rivalry
for the county-seat was very sharp. An act of the Legislature of 1839
located it at Rochester but the Governor vetoed the act. Commissioners
chosen the same year by the Legislature located the county-seat at
Keosauqua.
Another town was laid out in 1839 by R. King
just below Keosauqua which was named Des Moines City. A dam was built
across the river at this place and a flourdam was built across the river
at this place and a flouring-mill erected. In the fall of that year a
small steamer, the S. B. Science, ascended the Des Moines River to this
dam. It was loaded with Indian goods, provisions and whisky and was
under the command of Captain Clark. In the summer of 1843 a weekly
newspaper was established at Keosauqua named the Iowa Democrat;
its proprietors were Jesse M. Shepherd and John T. Mitchell. One of the
first railroads built in the State was the old Des Moines Valley which
was projected by citizens of Keokuk to follow up the valley of the Des
Moines River from that city to the Minnesota line. This was the first
railroad in Van Buren County.
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 #
The items on this page are not for sale, but are
available to me to research your family tree
Home -- Periodicals
-- Books -- Research
service -- Email
"Past 2 Present" |