Chapter 11, pages 99-101

Seth Dean of Glenwood did much of the early-day surveying in Mills County and his engineering skills were engaged frequently by those needing such services. In his later years he put on record a number of plats and he served for a great many years as county surveyor. W. H. Taft, who wrote a history of Mills County in 1884, stated that Seth was the son of William E. Dean, pioneer civil engineer who lived in Lyons township and that, at the time of the history, Seth had been reelected four times as County Surveyor. Mr. Taft, who never let one word suffice when a dozen could be used, further wrote of his subject: "...and it is safe to predict that he will continue to be chosen to that position until a larger field opens, in which, as a mathmatical expert or versed scion, he may find a broader plane whereon to rectangulate his meanderings, irradiate the homologous chords of well-ranked logarithms, bisect the acre of anarchy, and, like a true telescopic seer, predicate the perimeter of the prismoidal parallelopipedon."

A true renaissance man, Mr. Dean also excelled as a historian and left a number of papers, booklets, newspaper articles, etc., dealing with Mills County history. In Seth Dean's Book, now in the Mills County Historical Museum, he had the following about Harmony (or Almira) and we are indebted to Ona McNay for providing this:

"This town is situated on the Southwest Quarter, Section 23, Township 72, Range 40 West, about fifteen miles east of Glenwood....and twenty miles east of the Missouri river. It is beautifully located on a high rolling prairie of the first quality and affords a fine view of the county in every direction. The county road east to west and north to south will directly pass it on either side, while the Burlington & Missouri Railroad and Indian Creek run in full view a few rods below it on the south. There are some thirty industrious and thriving families already settled in the neighborhood. The county is healthy and rapidly filling up. The purest water, a good supply of timber for fuel and building purposes along the creek, an excellent stone quarry and two saw mills in the neighborhood are additional advantages.

"The town is already laid out and all persons seeking a home or investment are invited to consider the advantages this place offers. The lots are much larger than usual, being 60 feet in front and 180 feet deep, with an alley 18 feet wide. This liberal arrangement has been made not merely as an inducement to purchase but to make families who locate upon them more happy."

Mr. Dean then listed measurements: Blocks 378 feet square. Lots 60 feet by 180 feet. Third and Locust Streets each 70 feet wide. All other streets 60 feet wide. Alleys 18 feet wide.

Harmony is a particularly mysterious ghost town because none of those whom the author interviewed for this book had heard of it. Yet it was platted evidently just before the time the Burlington & Missouri River railroad was building its line through Mills County. The Centennial History of Emerson gives some light on the matter: "Judge (Lewis) Tubbs, acting as land agent for the Burlington Railroad Company, purchased land for a new railroad to go through the area. Originally the town was platted one mile west. This site was changed to the present location when it was determined that a large hill was going to pose a problem in laying the railroad. A.B. Smith, an official of the Railroad Co., named the new town after a New England writer and philospher, Ralph Waldo Emerson. All new towns from Red Oak to Glenwood were named for noted writers or poets.”

The plat of Emerson lies in adjoining quarters of four sections, its northwest part being in the southeast quarter of Section 23. So we can presume that the plat so carefully described by Seth Dean was for a town that later became Emerson.