In 1840 D. S. Duncan, H. P. Sullivan and H. B. Duncan of
Kentucky took claims on Grand River close to the State line
near the present town of Lineville. Other settlers
soon came, locating in the timber lands, along the
streams. Among them were Henderson Walker, Benjamin
Barker, Hiram Mason, I. W. McCarthy, Joseph Rains, George
Garman, Seth Anderson and Isaac Wilson. In November,
1850, Dr. I. W. McCarthy was appointed sheriff to organize
the county. The following officers were elected in
August, 1851: Seth Anderson, judge; Thomas McPherson,
clerk; D. Payton, recorder and treasurer, and I. W.
McCarthy, sheriff. Thirty votes were cast at this
election and the amount of revenue the first year was
$64.30.
The commissioners chosen to locate
the county seat in the spring of 1851 selected the site
where Corydon stands and gave it the name of Springfield but
as there was already a town of that name in the State, upon
the suggestion of Judge Anderson, it was changed to Corydon
for a town of that name in Indiana. The ground was
purchased by the county, a town platted by Benjamin Barket
and J. F. Stratton, the lots appraised and offered for
sale. George Garman purchased the first lot for
thirty-eight dollars upon which he built a house in which he
opened a store. The first sermon was preached by Rev.
Morgan Parr, a Christian minister. In the spring of
1852 a term of court was held by Judge McKay in an
unfinished log house. The first newspaper in the
county was the South Tier Democrat established in
1858 by Cutler and Binkley at Corydon. Lineville,
which lies near the State line, in the southwest corner of
the county was the first town laid out, in 1848.
Allerton is a thriving town four miles southwest of
Corydon. The Chicago and Southwestern Railroad was the
first built into the county. The Chariton River was
named for a French trader who was the first to establish a
post near its mouth in Missouri. His name was also
given to a county in Missouri where his old trading post
stood and later to the county-seat of Lucas County in
Iowa.
Transcribed from:
HISTORY OF IOWA
From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth
Century, Volume III from 1866 to 1903, by Benjamin F.
Gue
Originally published by The Century History Company, 41 Lafae
Place, New York City