Excerpts from An Illustrated History of Monroe County, Iowa - 1896

CHAPTER IV ~ EARLY POLTICIAL METHODS

. . . At this time [1848] many of the Mormons of Illinois, in making their hegira from Nauvoo, had located temporarily in different localities in southern Iowa, to rest and recuperated before proceeding onward across the plains to the Salt Lake valley, whither Joseph Smith, their saint and leader, had prophesied they should be gathered under the immediate supervision of the Lord.

As before stated, all the territory lying directly west of Monroe County, as far as the Missouri River, was attached to Monroe County for election and judicial purposes.

This unorganized territory comprised the tier of counties now consisting of Lucas, Clark, Union, Adams, Montgomery, and Mills. Several small settlements of Mormons were made in one or more of these counties; one was at Garden Grove, in Lucas County. The Mormons were the first to settle Lucas County, and, indeed, many of the early settlers of Monroe were Mormons, but they had lost their faith in their doctrine and made up their minds to embrace the belief of their "Gentile" neighbors, and remain.

In this connection it will be of interest to state that some of the most conspicuous and highly esteemed families residing in Monroe County at the present day were apostates from the Mormon Church. that branch of the "Hair Nation" locating in Mantua and Urbana townships was largely composed of ex-Mormon; but, as the extravagant doctrines of the "Latter-Day Saints," as they chose to style themselves, and their sometimes predatory exploits among their "Gentile" neighbors, have attached considerable odium to the Mormons as a church organization, those who apostatized and are now living in Monroe County are a little reticent about speaking of their connection with the Mormon Church.

 

 

Source: Hickenlooper, Frank. An Illustrated History of Monroe County, Iowa: A Complete Civil, Political, and Military History of the County, From Its Earliest Period of Organization Down to 1896. Chapt. 4. Pp. 33-37. Albia, Iowa. 1896.

Transcriptions by Sharon R. Becker, September of 2010