Stories of Pioneers

The following stories of pioneers and early life in the township are taken from the History of which was published in 1881 and from records kept by descendants of the pioneer families still residing here. The story of the Binns and Stafford families was furnished by Mrs. C. E. Jackson, whose father was William Stafford and her mother was formerly Margaret Binns.    The Jonathan Binns family came from Brownsville, Pennsylvania in a  covered wagon, leaving there in August of 1855. They settled on the southeast quarter of section 8 on land which is still owned by a member of the family. They erected a log house of one room, sixteen by eighteen feet, with one half window, a door and a sod fireplace and chimney. Their nearest neighbors were hree miles away. They had shipped most of their goods by boat, starting on the Monongahela river, then down the Ohio, up the Mississippi, then finally up the Missouri. Somewhere in the Missouri river the boat sank and only part of their goods was saved. Their bedding was ruined. Their only light except from the fireplace, was made by a twisted string or material placed in a cup filled with grease.

Ellen (Aunt Nellie) Stafford Came in 1848

   Mrs. William Stafford, formerly Margaret Binns, said that at one time her family set traps for prairie chickens and caught a wild turkey, which they had as meat for their Thanksgiving day dinner.

   John Stafford and wife, Nellie, came from Indiana and settled on Section 19 in May 1848. Nellie Stafford being the first white woman in the county according to history. At one time when her husband had gone to Rockport, Mo. to get some grinding done, and she was alone, she awakened in the morning to find a group of Indians camped across the creek near her home.

   William Stafford came with his parents from Van Buren County in 1853 in a covered wagon drawn by two yoke of oxen. His father laid claim to eighty acres of land south of Coburg and built a house on it. He went to Missouri that winter and worked for one bushel of corn each day. He had it ground and then brought it home for bread which they baked in an iron skillet with legs. This skillet was set over the coals, a lid was placed over it and then coals were placed on top. The family ate corn bread for about ten years before they had any white bread. Mr. Stafford was twelve years old when he saw his first school house.  It was a little one-room log cabin built back in some woods. For the desks long boards were placed across some logs used for supports.  There were just two three-month terms of school each year.

   He related that when a boy he was out looking for the cows and standing on a hill above the present location of Coburg, saw Indians camped in the valley. The Indians came here at times for hunting as there were still wild turkey, prairie chickens and deer here.

   Thomas Weidman came here from Pennsylvania in 1856.  he walked to this county from St. Joseph, secured a farm, was married on July 4, 1861, had a family, some of whose members still live in this county. About 1890 he represented this county as senator in the Iowa legislature. In 1862 he was summoned to appear at Frankfort for grand jury duty. He stated that he walked from the southwest corner of Grant township to Frankfort, not a field or fence to cross.  

Coburg Band --About 1912

  William Cozad came in 1854 from Ohio as a boy of 12 years with his uncle Robert Davis. He walked all the way, taking forty-seven days for the trip. At that time there were six families in the township, George W. Gordon, W. W. Hines, Wesley Hall, Robert Davis, Wm. Soward and John Stafford. After serving in the Civil War he was married in 1865 and owned land in southwest quarter of section 8. which is now owned by his grandson of the same name. In 1903 he was elected county supervisor.

   James Hines in section 5 came in 1855. In 1856 the snow was so deep they couldn't get about and they lived on parched corn and potatoes. They had to grind corn in a coffee mill because they could not go to the mill, the nearest being in Rockport, Mo.

   The winter of 1856-1857 was severe as snow covered the ground to a depth of three feet most of the winter and a crust was formed sufficiently strong to hold up a dog, but not a deer, their sharp hoof breaking through it. Large numbers of them were easily captured and one Dick Chamberlain killed seventy eight deer. The same winter, a herd of elk was exterminated, none having been seen since in the county.

   In 1858 a Fourth of July celebration was held under the supervision of Robert Davis, living in Section 19. At that time Glenwood in Mills county was the nearest trading place.