Location:
Dawsonburg is located within Green Township.
History:
Jacob Dawson appears to have been a prominent resident and likely the one for whom the community of Dawsonburg was named. He owned the newspaper, The Frontier Guardian and Iowa Sentinel,
which was printed in Kanesville.
He also acted as a “Claim and General Land Agent” for Fremont and Mills counties. He operated out of Kanesville in this occupation, also. At the time h
e bought The Frontier Guardian and began editing the same under its new name (i.e., The Frontier Guardian and Iowa Sentinel).
In February 1852, he claimed to have had some editing or newspaper management experience previously. In fact, he had worked for the Pittsburgh Gazette. The Frontier Guardian spoke very highly of Dawson, saying that he was “not a Mormon,
but apparently one of those liberal minded, unassuming men, whose well known qualifications for the business cannot fail to render him an acceptable citizen”.
Dawson was also a
lawyer who worked out of the newspaper office and “practice[d] in the 6th Judicial District, of Iowa”. He later moved his law office to Sidney, Iowa.
He eventually sold his
interest in the paper to A. C. Ford, who apparently was his business partner at one point. Ford eventually had to quit printing the paper because he was losing money on it.
Dawsonburg had a post office from February 14, 1851 to January 14, 1858. It was run by Jacob Dawson.
Cemeteries:
There is a Dawsonburg-Gaylord Cemetery in Green Township of Fremont County. Apparently no stones or records indicate the burial of any of the Dawson family in the cemetery.
