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 Pocahontas County, IA
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Des Moines Township

Des Moines township was organized on March 15, 1859 at the home of Henry Jarvis. This is the same day the organization of the county was effected. The township was named after the river that flows in a southeastern direction through the eastern part of the township.

Prior to the organization of the township, it was settled by "pre-emptors". A pre-emptor was "any one who was the head of a family, a widow or a single person over the age of twenty one years and a citizen of the United States (or had filed a declaration of intent) might locate on these unoccupied lands and file a claim with the register of the land office for that district for any number of acres not exceeding one hundred and sixty, if it was beyond the limits of any railway grant".

The first step in doing this was to move to the land and begin improvements on it. The first settlers of Des Moines and Lizard Townships secured their homes under this law. The first "pre-emptors" of Des Moines township are noted as:

The homestead act of May 20, 1862 went in to effect on January 1, 1863. Those who secured lands in Des Moines township by homesteading were:

Early Residents

The following are early residents found among lists of township officers. It is not noted exactly when they arrived or on what section they resided.

The following men living in Des Moines township volunteered for the civil war in 1861-

The following men living in Des Moines township volunteered for the civil war in 1862-

Other men who volunteered later in the war were -

As a note, in 1862 the population of Pocahontas County was 122. There were only three townships in the county at that time and Des Moines furnished 14 volunteers. This has been a source of pride for the county.

First County Seat

The first county seat of Pocahontas county was in Old Rolfe, which was in the north east corner of the south west quarter of section 26, Des Moines township. Old Rolfe was originally called Highland and/or Highland City, at least during the year 1860. That is the year the first court house was built and court was held in it. In January 1861 a survey to plat the area around the courthouse was begun by Egbert Bagg, who lived in Fort Dodge.

Once the area around the courthouse was platted, W H Hair, with the approval of the people, asked that the name of the town be changed from Highland to Milton, after the town from which Mr Hait had arrived from. However, when the applied for a post office with the name Milton they were refused as the name was already in use in Van Buren county. The name was changed to Rolfe in 1862, and the name Milton was still being used as late as 1866.

The name of the town was changed yet again in 1882 when the railroads were being built and crossed each other at a point four miles southwest of the city. The town of Highland/Milton/Rolfe was then changed to Parvin. These name changes were just too much and the Pocahontas county pioneer town ceased to exist.

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Information transcribed, compiled and arranged by Tim Meyer, copyright 2003 - 2004