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It will readily be seen that it would be quite difficult to give the names of the early settlers of the county by townships, for the reason that at first there were no townships, and there have been so many changes since they were formed. A great many of the real early settlers of the county will be found among the names taken from the Wisconsin census of 1836 as given in Chapter six. The names of numerous others who came in the early days are found in the records of the early courts and in the list of county officials.

Among the earliest settlers in Wapello township, were: William Milligan, Wright Williams, Jacob Rinearson, Rolla (Riley) Driscol, Jeremiah Smith, Sr., James McDaniel, C. M. McDaniel, Thomas England, James M. Clark, Francis Springer, Thomas Harrison, Samuel Jamison, George Jamison, John Allison, John Drake, William Clark, Robert Williams, Silas Chrisman, Isaac Rinearson, G. B. Alexander, John Deihl, James Wilson, Phillip R. Harrison, S. S. Gourley, Thomas L. Rose, Edward H. Thomas, Mark Davison, Merrit Jamison, S. M. Kirkpatrick, T. N. Ives, N. J. Ives, James Brogan, John Brogan.

Among the earliest settlers in Eliot township were: Allan Eliot, William H. Creighton, Samuel Smith, Phillip Maskell, James Gordon, James Hatcher. Rufus P. Burlingame, William Dupont, Richard Staige, Samuel Pitt.

Among the earliest settlers in Morning Sun township were: Peter Curran, Josiah Vertrees, Levi Gregory, Thomas Bell, Aaron Chamberlin, John A. Lewin, Henry Hobbs, Samuel Dunham, William Bell, John Willson, Zadok Jarvis, Thomas Gregory, Garrett B. Garrison, John Bell, John Driscol. W. P. Brown, J. C. Brown, Samuel Bell, H. C. Blake.

Among the earliest settlers of Marshall township were: Joseph Higbee, Jacob Mintun, James W. Isett, R. W. Gwinn, John Marshall, Nixon Scott. Dr. Samuel R. Isett, John Sellers, Joshua Marshall, H. M. Ochiltree, George Key, William Isett, Franklin Griswold, Ira Griswold. Richard Restine, Richard Slaughter, Ananias Simpkins. John Marshall, Elijah Lathrop.

Among the earliest settlers in Columbus City township were: S. K. Helmick, Henry Marsden, Joseph L. Derbin. G. Barstow Williams, Benjamin Stoddard, Isaac Hall, Joel Bronson, Oliver Sweet. James M. Robertson, Thomas Neal, Thomas Stoddard, Zebina Williams, James G. Hall, Joseph Hall, Amos Hammond, W. W. Garner, Orleans Spafford, David Dix.

Among the earliest settlers in Grandview township were: James Latta. Samuel Latta. Levi Thornton, Abram McCleary, Clark Alexander, George Humphreys, Martin Gray, Spencer Wilson, William Thompson, John Thompson, Lot Thornton, John Taylor, Robert Childers, Alvin Clark, John H. Williamson, Alex. Ross, Thomas B. Shellabarger. Robert Gray, John Cresswell, Andrew Kendall, William Fowler, Sylvanus Carey, J. P. Walker.

Among the earliest settlers in Port Louisa township were: John Ronalds. Thomas D. Killough, Levi Stephen, Joseph Crow, Henry Rockafellar. William Harden, William F. Dickerson. Albert O. Stickney, William Kennedy, James Erwin, Samuel G. Chambers, G. H. Crow, D. P. Herron, Albert McClung, James M. Cresswell, Elisha Searl, John F. Adams, John Holmes.

Among the earliest settlers of Jefferson township were: Christopher Shuck. Valentine Faulkner, Isaac Parsons, John W. Ferguson, James Majors. Riley...

Photo of paper with Verdict of Coroners’ Jury

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... Mallory, Elisha Hook, Peter DeMott, Peter Keever and his sons, David Morgan, William L. Toole, T. M. Parsons, Orrin or Orien Briggs, Asa Mallory, Harmon Mallory, Thomas Bras.

Among the earliest settlers in Concord township were: James C. Sterlin, Dr. Enoch K. Maxson, Joseph Clark, Robert F. Newell, James Waterbury, Marvel Wheelock, George Stone, James Bedwell, Micajah Reeder, John Knott, Jacob Shellabarger, Alexander Finley.

Among the earliest settlers in Union township were: John Clark, Patrick Colton, Elisha Shephard, Steven B. Thompson, Quince Thompson, David Flack, John Flack and Wm. J. R. Flack.

Among the earliest settlers in Oakland township were: Hugh Callan, or Calin, Joseph Blake, Curtis Knight, John Brown, Ward Blake, Cyril Carpenter, G. W. Allen.

Among the earliest settlers in Elm Grove township were: Joseph Buffington, James Q. Buffington, Sylvester Stackhouse, Samuel Pierce, Philip J. Buffington, James Riley, Elijah Jennings, H. J. McCormick, Silas Lunbeck, Barton Jones.

For the reasons already stated some of the foregoing names may be assigned by us to the wrong township. It is true that some of the early settlers began their pioneer career in one township, but lived the greater fart of their lives in another and became identified with the latter. For instance, John H. Benson is usually credited to Grandview township, although he was one of the pioneer settlers of Jefferson; and there are many other similar cases.

As noted elsewhere in this work, the earliest settlement of the county was made in the southern part of it, first probably about Toolesboro, which was not within the Keokuk Reserve, and about the same time, or a little later at Virginia Grove, which was also out of the Reserve, but neither of these were much before the first settlements in Eliot, Grandview and Port Louisa townships.

A great majority of the early settlers settled either in township 73 or in township 74. By the early settlers we mean those who came here as early as 1840, or shortly thereafter.

We have prepared a list of the land entries made by our early settlers. It must not be understood either, that the lands entered as shown in this list were in every case the places of first settlement of the men named, nor that the dates of the entries were the dates of their coming to this county. There were no government sales of land in this county until November, 1838, and at that time only a part of the lands in township 73 were sold, and the rest of the lands in the county were not offered for sale by the government until 1839, 1840, and 1841. It must also be borne in mind, that many of the settlers who came here in 1836 and 1837, moved from one place to another, and sold or traded their claims, and that there is no record to be found of these transactions. But it is still probable that a majority of the land entries as shown in the following list were made by the original settlers themselves. By taking a map of the county, the reader can easily see who were the pioneers in the different localities.

Much of the land in township 73, and some in 74, was swamp land, and not entered until a later date. It is proper to say also, that the lands entered by Lyne Starling are not noted, for the reason that he was not an actual settler. His land entries comprise a great many acres. It is possible that some of the names included in the list were not actual settlers.

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In most instances, we have given the names with the spelling which appears on the records.

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