URIAH DAFT
The next white man [after John Rose and Melton Smith] who came within the borders of what is now Noble township with the intention of making a permanent settlement, was Uriah Daft. Gathering up their household goods in Ripon, Wisconsin, the family started on their overland journey, and continuing in a southwestward course, inspecting the country as they went, brought up here on the 18th day of October, 1858. It was many miles to the nearest settlement, but the beauty of the country which met their view presented too strong a temptation to be resisted, and Mr. Daft determined to stop and build him a house. Accordingly he staked out a claim on section 28, and erected his cabin -- the second house in the township. He maintained a good reputation among his neighbors when the settlement commenced in earnest, until his death, which occurred December 6, 1873.
Transcribed by Gloria Goltiani from "History of Cass County, Iowa. Together With Sketches of its Towns, Villages and Townships, Educational, Civil, Military and Political History: Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Old Settlers and Representative Citizens." Springfield, Ill.: Continental Historical Company, 1884, pp. 655.
