Did You Know

Did You Know?

Cedar County has connections with three U.S. Presidents

You probably are aware that Herbert Hoover, the country's 31st president, was born in West Branch. He was the first president of the United States born west of the Mississippi River. Although he left the area at age 9 after being orphaned, he and his wife Lou Henry Hoover are buried at West Branch and his birthplace, grave and library and museum are on National Park property.

Hope Malmsbury Hemingway, eighth great-grandmother of Richard Nixon, is buried at the Hickory Grove Quaker Cemetery.

Ronald Reagan's father, John Reagan, lived in Bennett in eastern Cedar County for a few years around 1900. His aunt, Mrs. O. G. Baldwin, reared him for a few years when he was a teenager. The Baldwins ran a general store in Bennett from about 1895 to 1901, when they moved to Waterloo. John Reagan began selling shoes then, and stopped at Bennett often to meet friends and play baseball.