WHY BREMER COUNTY IS SMALL
Bremer county is one of the smallest counties in the state, being 18 miles wide from north to south, and 24 miles long from east to west. In the organization of counties in the north part of the state in a struggle for territory, Blackhawk grabbed a row of congressional townships on her north border that logically and fairly belonged to Bremer. This was done by a system of ledgerdemain that was too deep or abstruse for Uncle John T. Barrick and his helpers to understand until it was too late to change the slate, and John T. lost the townships, and with them went glimmering the prospective county seat. Zimri Streeter, of Cedar Falls, was the smooth manipulator who euchered Uncle John. T. Zimri was playing Cedar Falls for a county seat, and got left in the final wind-up, as well as did Barrick. The road never was wide enough for Barrick to have Streeter and himself travel on it at the same time, after the division of territory was made.
One consolation Uncle John had was that he did not have Zimri to help him name his town. Mrs. Barrick's name was Jane, and to compliment her and commemorate her popularity with the people of the town, he added "ville" to it, and Janesville went on the map; but Waverly was made the temporary county seat, as was Waterloo for Blackhawk county.
| Previous | Last updated 4/13/15 |
Return to Pioneer Life Table of Contents | Next |
|---|