FOUNDED AS A CHURCH COLONY

In l879 Lamoni was platted as a town. The first settlements had beenmade only a few years before. Its age, therefore, gives it no specialclaims, for its neighbors are older. It does exhibit, however, ahistory that is different from the average run of village chronicles,for the story of these early years runs like some "read-about-in-books"narrative. Fifty years have left a unique story of communitypioneering, religious idealism, and forward-looking spirit.

The earliest settlers had come some thirty years before the laying outof the town. The first was a group who came from l834 to l840,supposing they were settling in Missouri. In those days there was intense feeling, and marked division over the slavery issue. Missouri was drawing several settlers because it was open to slave holding. A number of this early band had brought slaves to be held in the southern territory. This miscalculated a few miles on the boundary, and found they could not hold slaves in the Iowa Territory. Lamoni's real beginnings, however, do not spring from this group.

Two unusual pioneer groups came into the early history of this section of the country. The one was that of the refugees from Nauvoo who were moving westward and who established a camp at Garden Grove from l826-l852 as a stopping place in the journey. The other was the Hungarian Colony at New Buda about l85l, following the Hungarian Revolution of l848. It had been planned to establish a large settlement and invite immigration. Neither of these temporary colonies had any permanent influence.

The county was organized April l, l850. In July of that year the county seat was located at a place called Decatur, the county itself being named after Stephen Decatur, a distinguished officer in the War of l8l2. During the fall a log court house was built and soon after the county seat was moved to a town named Independence. It happened that Iowa had another town by that name and so in l854 by act of the legislature, the name was changed to Leon. A pretty well established county organized preceded the founding of Lamoni.

The first settlers who really influenced local history were those who came to the area now known as Pleasanton. Shortly after l850 the Morey, Keown, Moffet and Hinkle families moved in. These had been members of the old Latter Day Saint Church and when in l859 they accepted the claims of the Reorganization and effected a local organization, a new slant came into the affairs of this territory.

Lamoni itself really begins with the activities of the Order of Enoch. This was a corporation of a number of men of means connected with the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was organized September l9, l870, at Council Bluffs, Iowa, with the purpose of purchasing and developing lands for church settlements. The Board of Directors included men who became prominent in the early history of Lamoni: Elijah Banta, president; Israel L. Rogers, treasurer; David Dancer, David Gamet, Alexander McCord, Calvin Beebe, and Phineas Caldwell. H.A. Stebbins was secretary.

A committee was named to choose a place of settlement. They visited several localities in the states of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. Finding much of the prairie of Fayette and adjoining townships in a state of nature, they purchased a large quantity, 2,686 acres at a cost of $2l,786.4l. Their capital stock was $44,500, sufficient for original purchase and improvement as well. Later more land was purchased and twelve new houses were built at a cost of $7,678.40.

The country was certainly virgin soil. At that time there was only one farm house in the territory of the present town. The post office called Sedgewick was located southeast of the present town, near where the S.S. Keown farm is located. Mail was received from Osceola once a week at first. It was taken by stage line to Leon. Every Saturday morning at seven o'clock it started by horseback from Leon to Sedgewick by way of Decatur City and Terre Haute and arrived at two o'clock in the afternoon if everything was favorable. In times of high water when Grand River was impassable, a week or two more might go by before the mail was received. At the time of Lamoni's beginning Sedgewick had a store; before this, the nearest store had been at Davis City.

In l874 the Board of the Order of Enoch passed the following resolution: "Resolved that we proceed to locate a town site upon or near the land belonging to the association as soon as it is found practicable." The project was not in the nature of an investment but for establishing a church community. The land was to be sold out at reasonable terms. Some moved in, but on the whole, conditions remained about the same until l879, the time of the coming of the railroad.

To Be Continued. . . . .

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