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         Commencing with David W. Walton, and assisted by a record of dates and arrivals, made in 1858 or 1859, by Nelson C. Swank, Esq., we are enabled to pretty accurately fix the arrivals for three years, 1836-7-8. Judge Tuthill has also kindly placed at our disposal a like memoranda; and from these papers we make the following record:

ARRIVALS IN 1836.

          May—On the 10th, David W. Walton and family reached their new home, the first cabin built within the territory of Cedar County, in what is now Sugar Creek Township.

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          June—Andrew Crawford, his daughter Phoebe, George McCoy and Stephen Toney arrived on the 10th. Crawford settled on the west half of the southeast quarter of Section 34, in Town 80, Range 2, on the farm now owned by Andrew J. Crawford. George McCoy and Stephen Toney at Rochester. Ben Halliday, John Halliday and Samuel Hulick came a few days later, and located in the northwest quarter of Section 34, Town 79, Range 2. C. C. Dodge, Abram Stebbens, Alanson Pope and Peter Crampton settled at Pioneer Grove. Stebbins is the only one of the Pioneer Grove colony remaining in the county.

          July—Robert G. Roberts, his wife and six children, settled in the neighborhood of the farm now owned by _____ ______. Henry arrived at his present residence on the east half of the northwest quarter of Section 32, Town 80, Range 2, on the 5th, having crossed the Mississippi river on the 4th. On the 7th, Aaron Porter, wife and six children, settled on the southeast quarter of Section 7, Town 79, Range 2. James Poston arrived on the 8th, and settled in Poston’s Grove, in the southeast quarter of Section 1, Town 80, Range 1. William Baker settled on the northwest quarter of Section 18, Town 79, Range 2.

          August—Joseph Olds settled on the northeast quarter of Section 32, Town 81, Range 3. John Jones and John Barr (his step-son) settled in the southeast quarter of Section 35, Town 81, Range 3. The Sterrett family, consisting of the mother (generally known among the settlers as “Granny” Sterrett) and three sons, Robert, William and Hector, the last two of whom were married, settled in the northeast corner of Section 22, Town 79, Range 2.

          October—Richard C. Knott settled on the west half of the northwest quarter of Section 32, Town 80, Range 2. John Roper was an unmarried man, and boarded with Knott. He located a claim on the land now covered by the farm of James T. Huddleston. David Barras, an unmarried man, came about the same time. Solomon Knott settled on the northeast quarter of Section 1, Township 80, Range 3. Reuben Long settled on the southwest quarter, Section 31, Town 81, Range 3. W. A. Rigby settled in Red Oak Grove, on the farm now owned by William Dallas. James Burnside and John Burnside settled in the timber land now embraced in the estate of Joseph McCrosky and P. F. Carl. James Leverich settled in the same timber. Ira Leverich settled on the farm now owned by George Zimmermaker, Sr., near Col. Hardman’s. Jacob Turner is also credited to the arrivals of this month.

          November—Rev. Morten Baker made a claim in the northwest quarter of Section 18, Town 79, Range 2, in May, but did not come to occupy it with his family until about the 15th of this month. John Scott came at the same time. William M. Knott, the builder of the Goose Creek schooner, “Sally Acker,” made a claim of the land now covered by the city of Tipton.

          December—Robert Miller occupied as a claim the farms now owned by E. C. Chrisman and Reuben Swartzlander, in Center Township.

          Joshua King came in the Fall of this year. James W. Potts, Jesse Potts and Elisha Edwards are also credited to this year, but the exact date of their arrival is unknown. The Potts family settled on the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 19, Town 79, Range 2. Edwards settled in the same neighborhood, and became a prominent county character. James W. Tallman, H. B. Burnup and Isaac Dickey were also among the settlers of 1836. Tallman was the first Sheriff of Cedar County.

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ARRIVALS IN 1837

         April—John Ferguson filed a claim on the south half of Section12, Town 81, Range 3 west—Red Oak Township. He lived on that claim about twenty years, and then removed to his present residence. Charles Dallas settled in Red Oak, and commenced to improve the farm now owned by John Darcus. John Safely settled on the farm he now occupies. William Coutts settled on the west half of the southeast quarter of Section 14, in the same township range. He still owns the farm, but removed to his present residence one half mile east of Tipton, in 18__. John Chappell settled on the south half of the south half of the southwest quarter of Section 10, same town and range. He still remains a resident of the township, but the old farm is occupied by James Chappell. Charles Swetland settled in Rochester on the 3d of the month. William Mason settled on the farm now owned by the Rhodes’ brothers in Linn Township, on the same day. On the same day, George Miller settled on the farm now owned by Alexander Buchanan, also in Linn Township. John Miller settled on what was known as the Moffett farm, and adjoining the Armentrout farm. Nicholas Miller commenced the farm now owned by Ed Rate. Henry D. Brown, carpenter, settled at Rochester on the 24th. James Buchanan, and his brother Henry, settled on Section 21, Town 81, Range 4, and commenced the farm now owned by John B. Mason in Cass Township.

         May—Jackomyer Baldwin and family, 2d, settled in Mason’s Grove. John Kenworthy settled on the farm now owned by Edward Rate, in Cass Township; John Matic, in Mason’s Gove. John W. and Phillip Wilkinson first came and made claims in January, but did not occupy them until this month. John W. settled on Section 8 and Phillip on Section 9, Township 80, Range 3. William Greene settled at Rochester and erected the first saw-mill built in the county. William Young, location unknown. Christian Holderman settled on the southeast quarter of Section 23, Township 80, Range 3.

         June—Benjamin Fraseur and three unmarried sons, William, Jacob and George, came on the 17th; the family settled on the west half of the northwest quarter of Section 35, Township 81, Range 3. Duncan McLaren came to Rochester on the 6th. George W. Parks settled in Mason’s Grove on the 10th.

         No data could be found to fix the month when the following named settlers came to cast their fortunes with the Cedar County pioneers of 1836:

         Charles Warfield and his wife settled at Antwerp and boarded with James W. Tallman. Warfield and Diltz were merchants and opened the first store at Antwerp. Peter Diltz came at the same time. John Blalock settled on the northeast quarter of Section 6, Township 80, Range 3. Noah King in Section 7, Township 80, Range 3. William Kizer settled on the northeast quarter of Section 5, Township 80, Range 3, where he remained until his death, some five years ago; his widow still occupies the old home. Abraham and Nicholas Kizer settled on the east half of Section 4, Township 80, Range 3. Richard Ransford settled on the southwest quarter of Section 5, Township 80, Range 3, and commenced the farm now owned by Sem. Simmons. John G. and James Foy settled on the northeast quarter of Section 14, Township 80, Range 3, now known as the “Stone Mill property”, and owned by Shearer and Gray. Samuel P. Higginson settled in what is now known as Bunker’s Grove, and commenced the farm now owned by Moses Bunker, Esq. Higginson is now a resident of Wilton, Muscatine County. A. L. McLaren settled on the northeast quarter of Section 7, Township 80, Range 2, on the farm of Reuben Owen, and known as the Bradley farm. Samuel Yule settled in the northeast corner . . .

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. . . of Red Oak Grove, where he continues to reside. George S. Smith commenced improving the farm now owned by Joseph Wyrick; he built a saw-mill and corn-cracker on Rock Creek, near the Widow Huber’s farm. William M. Stockton and James D. Stockton were unmarried men and made their homes with Jehu Kenworthy. John C. Higginson and John S. Sheller commenced a store in the town of Centerville, on what is now known as the Agnew farm, seven miles southeast of Tipton. Moses B. Church, the first school teacher, settled on the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 32, Township 80, Range 2, west. Joseph Wilford, Sr., and Joseph Wilford, Jr., settled on the farm now owned by William Leech, in Sugar Creek Township. John Finch settled on Section 27, Township 80, Range 2; he was killed by lightning, in Harden County, some ten or fifteen years ago. Jonathan Morgan settled on the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 24, Township 80, Range 3. William H. Bolton settled on the west half of the northeast quarter of Section 19, Township 80, Range 2. Daniel Hare settled on the southeast quarter of Section 4, Township 79, Range 2, now known as the Edge farm. Milton Phelps settled on the south half of the northeast quarter of Section 29, Township 79, Range 2, now known as the Jennings farm. Clement Squires settled on the land now known as the James Doty farm, in Iowa Township. William C. Long located on the south half of Section 33, Township 80, Range 3. Asa Young settled on the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 17, Township 81, Range 3. Felix Freeland settled on the northeast quarter of Section 17, Township 81, Range 3, now owned and occupied by Frank Moffett. Elias Epperson settled on the west half of the northeast quarter of Section 20, Township 81, Range 3, now owned by Aaron Wisener. Callahan Dwiggins settled on the northwest quarter of Section 34, Township 81, Range 3, now owned and occupied by his son James.

         Of the above named settlers of 1836 and 1837, many removed from the county ere many years had flown; others followed from year to year, in hopes to better their conditions in other localities; others have passed to the “shining shore” of the beautiful river; while many others still remain in the enjoyment of the homes their industry, endurance and enterprise fashioned and founded in the beautiful land of the Cedar.

         What changes the intervening forty-two years have brought. The wild prairies of 1836 have been converted into magnificent farms—gardens of beauty, comparatively speaking. The wigwams of the Indians and log cabins of the pioneers have given place to palatial-like residences. The camping places of the Sacs, Foxes, and kindred tribes of red men, are occupied by cities, towns and villages. Zigzag trails are superseded by broad, well-kept roads; and magnificent iron bridges span the rivers, where once bark canoes served to transport squaws and papooses from side to side. In nearly every part of the county, the puffing, snorting, screeching, whistling, jerking, backing, rumbling, roaring of steam locomotives, with their long, heavily-laden trains of cars, are heard in nearly every part of the county, at almost every hour of the twenty-four. Who can tell what the next forty-two years will accomplish? The question falls echoless.

         Of the seven men who first settled in the Red Oak Grove neighborhood—John Ferguson, John Safely, John Chappel, Washington A. Rigby, William Coutts, Samuel Yule and Charles Dallas—all are still living in the county, and most of them in the same neighborhood, except Mr. Dallas, who now lives in California.

         Safely, Ferguson and Dallas first crossed the Mississippi River in September, 1836, and stopped in Muscatine County, on the borders of Cedar, to make . . .

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. . . hay and other provisions for wintering their stock. Out of the whole number, all fell victims to the ague but one. The women became discouraged, as well they might, for the outlook was anything but promising. A short time after their hay was stacked, a fire swept along over the prairie, and surrounded and destroyed their hay. This added to the distress already entailed and they retreated to Knox County, Ill., where they went into Winter quarters. The distance from their pioneer Muscatine cabin to the next shelter on their line of travel, as they fled before grim-visaged want and destitution, was seventy miles. The advance winds and rains of Winter followed in their wake, met them in the front and whistled around them on all sides.

         It was a dreary, cold, desolate journey, enough to discourage stoutest hearts, one would now think, and almost beyond endurance. But Scotch hearts had undertaken the journey, and earnest Scotch women and Scotch men hardly ever bow down in humble, abject submission to destitution, want or suffering. They learned lessons of bravery, endurance and fortitude from Bruce; and as he learned lessons of perseverance from a spider’s struggles and trials to weave a web from wall to wall, in a barn, where he had taken refuge when overtaken by defeat and seeming disaster—so these hardy countrymen and countrywomen of his, Ferguson, Safely and Dallas, looked not upon the darkside; they only sought shelter and food for the Winter, determined to return when the springtime came, a determination they kept, and are now securely sheltered and protected from all the elements of time and want. In April, 1837, they returned to the country west of the Mississippi River, and, as already stated, settled at Red Oak Grove.