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THE

HISTORY

OF

MARION COUNTY,

IOWA,

CONTAINING

A History of the County, its Cities, Towns, &c.,

Biographical Sketches of its Citizens, War Record of its Volunteers in the late Rebel-
lion, General and Local Statistics, Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent
Men, History of the Northwest. History of Iowa, Map of

Marion County, Constitution of lowa, Miscel-
laneous Matters, &c., &c.

ILLUSTRATED.

DES MOINES:

UNION HISTORICAL COMPANY,

BIRDSALL, WILLIAMS & CO.

1881.

THIS LIMITED EDITION

Contains All 807 Pages

of the Original 1881 Edition
PLUS

TWO INTRODUCTORY PAGES

AND

FOR THE READER'S CONVENIENCE

A COMPLETE

NAME INDEX

NOT FOUND IN THE ORIGINAL EDITION BUT ADDING GREATLY TO THE USEFULNESS AND VALUE OF THIS VOLUME

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by

THE UNION HISTORICAL COMPANY,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

A Reprint of the Original
1881 HISTORY

of

MARION COUNTY, IOWA
First Published by the
UNION HISTORICAL COMPANY
BIRDSALL, WILLIAMS & CO.

DES MOINES, IOWA

1881

This Second Edition is a Publication of the
MARION COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
KNOXVILLE, IOWA
October, 1975

Reprinted from an Original 1881 Edition Loaned to the
Marion County Genealogical Society

by

Miss Winona Myrle Davis

PREFACE.

AFTER months of persevering effort we have at last completed the History of Marion COUNTY; the result proves that we did not overestimate the importance and difficulty of the task. The importance and difficulty of the work result from the same cause; viz., the almost total lack of reliable data. This difficulty has in a measure been overcome by a systematic canvass of the whole county, whereby we have been enabled to gather together, glean and compile into comprehensible and permanent form what until now has floated about in the changing mists of tradition. The reader will readily realize how difficult has been this task, and how important that the work is done at this comparatively early date. The first settlers, who acted so important a part in the history of the county, and who heretofore have been the sole custodians, of much material essential for such a work as this, are rapidly disappearing from among us, and those who remain become less and less reliable, as year by year the memory of early times grows indistinct.

The importance of the work is enhanced by the fact, that Marion county, owing to its location, is near the center of the agricultural resources of the State. In order to devote that attention to the various interests of the county which its central importance seemed to demand, we supposed it would be necessary to make a book of from six hundred to seven hundred pages. The publication of such a book for a patronage limited to a single county, was a hazardous undertaking, viewed from a business standpoint. Much solicitude was felt on this account during the first stages of the enterprise, but what misgivings we may have felt have been dispelled by the generous patronage afforded by the people of the county. We have been so far encouraged by the patronage vouchsafed that the work has been extended far beyond the scope originally intended, and instead of a book of from six hundred to seven hundred pages, as promised in our prospectus, the book exceeds eight hundred pages. Our solicitude for the success of the enterprise, in a business sense, was natural, but it has not been our sole solicitude; we have likewise intensely desired to make the work reliable, fall and attractive, and thereby to merit the public favor, which the people of the county have extended to us. In presenting the work to our many hundred readers, we have the satisfaction of knowing that they are of sufficient intelligence to appreciate merit when found, and of further believing that errors will be criticised with the understanding that book-makng, like all other kinds of labor, has its peculiar vicissitudes.

We have been materially aided in the preparation of the work by many persons in the county, who made no claim for compensation, and who expect no reward except that which comes from a consciousness of having aided in a worthy enterprise. Such persons deserve the thanks of their fellow citizens in the county and different townships where they reside; as for the publishers, they avail themselves of this opportunity to thank all who have aided them in the preparation of the work. Whatever of merit the HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY may contain is due in a large measure to their assistance; without their friendly words of encouragement, the enterprise would not have been entered upon, and it having been begun, could not have been completed without their valuable assistance. Among those to whom we are

thus indebted we name the following: William Donnel, H. P. Scholte, Mrs. Catharine Barker, E. F. Sperry, Minos Miller and many others. These are all Marion county pioneers, and in reference to the history of the county each one can say: “All which I saw, and part of which I was."

To each and all of our patrons we come with the satisfaction of knowing that we bring what we guaranteed, and in the belief that should any of them not appreciate the work, the time will come when their children will.

THE PUBLISHERS.

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