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Barney's Grove |
Location
Barney's Grove was probably in Cass Township , section 18. (1)
History
It is uncertain when the settlement was established, but the locale likely gained its name from Henry and Lewis Barney, who moved to Cass Township of Harrison County in 1847. (2)
Henry and Lewis Barney, Uriah Hawkins, Isaac Ellison, Edward Houghton, Judge Stephen King, Reverend Kirtland Card, and William Jolly were the first inhabitants of the area. William Jordan was likely another early resident of Barney's Grove. (3)
The settlement's Frontier Guardian representative was Uriah Hawkins. (4)
Mormons arrived in 1847. Lewis Barney and William Jordon signed the petition for the Kanesville post office, dated 20 January 1848. (5)
Describing multiple communities where the Latter-day Saints lived, including Barney's Grove, one turn-of-the-century historian wrote, “Strictly, they were not villages or even hamlets, merely the collection within easy distance of a handful of farm houses in a grove on a creek, with a school or church and perhaps a mill or trader's stock. They resembled rather the ideal farm communities or settlements of some modern sociologists.” (6)
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Harrison County Iowa Genealogy
Greenwood Cemetery
aka Greenwood - Whitesboro Cemetery
On the south side of Hwy 44 approximately 1/4 mile east of Hwy 30. |
This cemetery is the cemetery where Reverend Kirtland Card reburied his infant daughter. Likely, it is near the location of Barney's Grove.
Cemeteries
There was an early burial place on land that N. D. Barnes later owned. The Reverend Card buried an infant daughter there, probably in the first half of the 1850s. (7)
Reverend Card moved his daughter's remains to a new location, “Whitesboro burying ground,” sometime after burying her on what became Barnes' land. (8)
Notes:
1. History of Harrison County , Iowa : containing full-page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county : together with portraits and biographies of all the governers of Iowa , and the presidents of the United States (Chicago: National Publishing Company, 1891), 218.
2. History of Harrison County , Iowa , 216, 218.
3. United States Census, 1850.
4. Orson Hyde, ed., Frontier Guardian (4 April 1851).
5. Maurine Carr Ward and Fred E. Woods, “The ‘Tabernacle Post Office' Petition for the Saints of Kanesville , Iowa ,” Mormon Historical Studies (vol.5, no. 1, Spring 2004), 152, 159, 174.
6. Clyde B. Aitchison, The Mormon Settlements in the Missouri Valley . A Paper Presented by Clyde B. Aitchison, of Council Bluffs , Iowa , before the annual meeting of the Nebraska State Historical Society, January 11, 1899 (Lincoln, Nebraska, 1907), 23.
7. History of Harrison County , Iowa , 215, 218.
8. History of Harrison County , Iowa , 218. |
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Brown's Grove
(Brown's Camp, Calhoun)
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Location
Brown's Grove is, of course, a grove of trees located “in the northwestern portion” of the township in which it lies. It is one of three groves in the township, which together make three thousand acres of woodland.
It is in Calhoun Township. (1)
The settlement was located “in the southern part of section 19, Calhoun Township , near the west bank of Willow River.” (2)
History
“The first settlement in this township means the first in the entire county. Prior to 1847 it is not known or believed that a white man ever invaded this section of the great Missouri slope, for the purpose of becoming a settler, but during that year two came in for actual settlement. One was Daniel Brown, who had been a pioneer in Illinois and left at the time of the Mormon exodus, he being of that religious faith himself. He came from Florence, Neb. in the autumn of 1846; he came on a hunting expedition to the county and found land that suited him, where the village of Calhoun now stands. He came back in January, 1847, built a cabin and split some rails, but owing to sickness at his home in Nebraska he was called home – one William Litz coming over at the request of the family to notify him of the serious illness of his married daughter, Mrs. Polly Hammond, who died in the month of March 1847. Early in April of that year he brought his family to his newly chosen location in Calhoun Township . He and his son William ‘claimed' the northwest of the southwest of section 31, and also the northeast of section 31. He platted Calhoun village in 1853 and was a resident until his death, in 1875. His daughter, Mrs. B. H. Dennis, now lives at Missouri Valley. The aged mother died in Utah in 1890. The date of his actual settlement was April 7, 1847 . . . He was a fit man to honor an undertaking calling forth the genius and noble traits of genuine character found so frequently among those who pushed on as vanguards to civilized life. In January, 1847, Mr. Brown constructed a rude log hut, on the prairie where later stood the thriving village of Calhoun. In April, of that year, he, with his family, made a claim and became the first permanent settlers in Harrison County, Uriah Hawkins, of Cass Township, coming in July of the same year, 1847.” (3)
“The first land bought in Harrison County was sold to Daniel Brown – [an] eighty-acre tract, where Calhoun was subsequently built.
“A sufficient number of settlers had made claims in 1852 to justify the organization of a county. Committees were sent to the land office at Council Bluffs to bid on claims and protect the working citizens from the heartless speculator. These committees were instructed to bid one dollar and a quarter per acre and to carry death into the ranks of those who should bid against them.
"Once the earliest settlers arrived, they “at once began tilling the soil and were blessed the following autumn by a beautiful crop. Soon after harvest they found ready sale for all they had to spare to the large number of Indian traders, passing north to hunt and trade. Mr. Brown used to relate how that he did not see a dollar for months at a time and had hard work to keep clothing for his family. The money put in circulation by these traders helped him over and the pioneer and his household were the happiest of the happy!" (4)
“Mr. Brown, assisted by Messrs. Wills, Beldon & Johnson, laid off the town of Calhoun July 5th , 1853, on the E. hf. S. W. qr. of Sec. 19, Town. 79, N. of Range 43, west. This little place commenced under auspicious circumstances, and soon was a trading point of considerable importance. Mr. Hardin commenced the Mercantile business in the town, but the first heavy stock was by his successors, the firm of W. S. & E. W. Meech , in 1855. At an early day, the town of Calhoun was one of the most important business points in the county, but the railroads have left it on each side, at such a distance as to [affect] materially its business interests.” (5)
“The first term of school (private subscription) was taught in the winter of 1849-1850 in a log building erected for the purpose on a bluff overlooking what was later the village of Calhoun .” (6)
The 1868 history of Harrison County describes the pioneers' dwellings thus: “the ‘log palace,' with neither windows, doors, shutters or floor.” (7)
"Brown's Grove or Brown's Camp eventually became 'Calhoun . . . the first village in Harrison County . It was platted August 19, 1853 by Daniel Brown.' ” (8)
Daniel Brown was the Frontier Guardian agent. (9)
“Closely following Brown's settlement came William Litz and the following May came four other families and settled in the county –Messrs. J. Vincent, O. M. Allen, G. Cleveland and Eleazer Davis.” (10)
Daniel Brown originally moved to Calhoun township after a quarrel with President Brigham Young. He stayed in Iowa for more than a quarter of a century. One of his sons, James, had joined the Mormon Battalion and stayed in Utah . On two separate occasions, he visited his parents going to the perform missionary service. Daniel confessed to James during his first visit in 1858, that he wished he still had the faith he once possessed. He commended James's faith, but remained uncommitted to return to The Church of Jesus Christ until James's 1860, during James's second visit. Daniel was eventually re-baptized and received his endowments in Utah. (11)
Agrippa Cooper went to Utah in a nameless company in 1852. Daniel Brown went to Utah “During the year 1874 . . . for, at this time he was re-baptized into [T]he Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and on the 12 th of October of the same year he went through the Salt Lake Temple and received his own endowments.
“[Erold Wiscombe was] unable to ascertain whether Daniel had moved his family to Utah permanently, or if they were in the process of moving. However, in the following spring, on the 2 nd of February 1875 his life came to an end at Calhoun, Harrison County, Iowa, at the age of 71 years, and on the 4 th day of that month, he was buried in the county in which he [had] been the first white man.
“His good wife, Elizabeth Stephens Brown lived in Utah for the remaining 15 years of her life after her hus[b]and died. She passed away at Farmington , Davis County , Utah on the 12 th of October, 1890, in the 81 st year of her life. She is buried in the Farmington cemetery in Davis county on the family plot of her daughter Lucy Brown Rose.” (12)
Cemeteries
The following is a website showing the location of Calhoun Cemetery : http://tiger.census.gov/cgi-bin/mapgen?lat=41.6392&lon=-95.8939&wid=.05&ht=.05&iht=450&iwd=600&on=CITIES&mark=-95.8939,41.6392,redstar,Calhoun+Cemetery Combined with the map at the previous link, the map at the next link will help one get to the cemetery: http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&country=US&popflag=0&latitude=&
longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&addtohistory=&cat=&address=&city=Missouri+Valley&state=IA&zipcode
Calhoun cemetery definitely dates to the 19 th Century, however, whether it is a pioneer cemetery or not is open to research. As the photographs available on-line do not allow for close perusal of the vague markings on the stones, a personal visit to the site would be helpful in determining the age of the graveyard. (13)
List of people buried at the cemetery: http://www.rootsweb.com/~iaharris/cemetery/calhoun.htm (14)
Notes:
1. History of Harrison County , Iowa . Containing Full-page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County. Together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of Iowa , and of the presidents of the United States . (Chicago: National Publishing Company, 1891), 208.
2. History of Harrison County , Iowa . Containing Full-page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County. Together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of Iowa , and of the presidents of the United States . 208.
3. David C. Mott, “Abandoned Towns, Villages and Post Offices of Iowa,” Annals of Iowa (Iowa City: Iowa State Historical Society, 1910-12), vols. xvii and xviii, 53.
4. History of Harrison County , Iowa . 208.
5. Works Progress Administration, Southwestern Iowa Guide: Geology—Points of Interest—History (ca. 1936).
6. History of Harrison County , Iowa . 209.
7. Orson Hyde, ed., Frontier Guardian ( Kanesville , Iowa ), 4 April 1851.
8. History of Harrison County , Iowa . 209.
9. Wiscombe, “Biography of Daniel Brown, 1804-1875,” 14-16, 27-30.
10. History of Harrison County , Iowa . 209.
11. G. F. Waterman, History and Description of Harrison County , Given in Townships (Magnolia, Iowa: The Western Star Book and Job Office, 1868), 33.
12. Erold Clark Wiscombe, “Biography of Daniel Brown, 1804-1875,” film 920, #58, 30-31, Manuscript Collection, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
13. Waterman, History and Description of Harrison County , Given in Townships , 32, in History of Harrison County , Iowa . Containing Full-page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County. Together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of Iowa , and of the presidents of the United States . 209.
14. http://www.rootsweb.com/~iaharris/cemetery/calhoun/CH-RichardsonInf.jpg . See also the photographs of other gravestones dating to the 1800s on the site, http://www.rootsweb.com/~iaharris/cemetery/calhoun.htm .
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Bigler's Grove |
Location
Bigler's Grove, at the time of the Latter-day Saints' occupancy of the site, was undoubtedly a large grove of trees, a distinguishing feature on the plains landscape. Even in 1891, the portion of Bigler's Grove that sat in Boyer Township was still one of “the largest bodies of native timber land.”(1)
It was located in Boyer Township. (2)
It was near Thompson Creek. Creeks abound in the area, including Willow, Elk, and Hog Creeks. The Boyer River and its tributaries lie a short distance to the east and south of the site of Bigler's Grove Cemetery. (3)
History
Bigler's Grove appears to never have been established as a town in the sense of having an official incorporation or platting of the town. Bigler's Grove did have a post office for a short time: “Three to 4 miles northwest of Magnolia (Sec. 18, Magnolia Twp. 80N, R43W). Established April 8, 1867, Lucy A. Waldo; discontinued December 8, 1869.” (4) An interesting note is that the post office was some five or six miles from the site of Bigler's Grove Cemetery in spite of their contemporary existence. This fact illustrates the looseness of the Bigler's Grove community. Although Bigler's Grove is not explicitly included in the source of the following quote, it apparently fits the general description: “Strictly, they were not villages or even hamlets, merely the collection within easy distance of a handful of farm houses in a grove on a creek, with a school or church and perhaps a mill or trader's stock. They resembled rather the ideal farm communities or settlements of some [1899] sociologists.” (5)
Charles Smith and his father, William moved with their families to Boyer Township in 1849 or 1850. They “settled on section 29 . . . The family were all of the Mormon faith and practice.” (6) Whether or not this section later became part of Bigler's Grove settlement is difficult to know. It is near the sections identified with Bigler's Grove (sections 18 and 19), bordering on the southeast tip of section 19. (7) “Thomas Thompson came in the autumn of 1852, and settled where he now lives on section 18, at Biglers' Grove. He lived in a log cabin until 1856, then built his present house. . . . [In 1853] came David Fry and family, John McIntire and family, John Holeton and family. McIntire moved to Monona County , and Fry died in 1875. . . . B. Abrams . . . settled at Bigler's Grove, on section 19. He died there in 1878.” (8) “W.H. McHenry came with his parents to this county in about 1853, locating at Bigler's Grove. He is now a large landowner, living north of Woodbine. . . . Dr. John Cole came from Indiana in 1855, lived at Bigler's Grove one winter, and in the spring of 1856, settled on section 11, where he made his home the remainder of his days, dying about 1880; he built the brick house now owned by George Pugsley.” (9)
Although it is difficult to know beyond Charles' and William's families who were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many residents eventually joined the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the early 1860s. So many joined the RLDS Church, the church established a branch there in March 1863.
The settlement did not have other names, but the RLDS branch name was changed from the Bigler's Grove Branch to the Morning Star Branch in 1865. (10) Bigler's Grove has alternate spellings as well, including “Biggler's” Grove and “Biglar's” Grove. (11)
Charles and William Smith came in 1849 or 1850. Their residence may not have been in Bigler's Grove, per se, but it was nearby. “John Jeffrey came to the county in the summer 1851, and purchased a Mormon claim [implying he himself was not LDS] on section 18.” Apparently, there were other Mormon pioneers in Bigler's Grove of whom there is no record, unless Jeffrey bought land from William or Charles Smith, which is unlikely since Charles stayed in the area until his death in 1869. (12)
http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=88489 –This is a link to a map showing Bigler's Grove Cemetery . For better directions to the area, go to www.mapquest.com and search for Woodbine, IA, which is nearby.
Cemeteries
Bigler's Grove Cemetery (“Southeast corner of the intersection of Orange Avenue & 190 th Trail”) appears to be the original burial ground of the settlers of this community. (13) Although the first two deaths recorded in the area (William Smith, 31 May 1864 and Hiram or Hyram Palmer, 3 September 1868) are not included in the list of those buried at the cemetery, Charles Smith, who died in 1869, is buried there. (14) It was in existence at least by 1869. (15)
Link to persons that we know are buried there
www.rootsweb.com/~iaharris/cemetery/biglers.htm?o_xid=9872&o_lid-9872&o_xt=qIZw
1. History of Harrison County , Iowa . Containing Full-page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County. Together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of Iowa , and of the presidents of the United States (Chicago: National Publishing Company, 1891), 180.
2. istory of Harrison County , Iowa , 180.
3. http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=88489 ; www.mapquest.com , search for Woodbine, Iowa and compare with the map from epodunk.com.
4. Guy Reed Ramsey, Postmarked Iowa : A List of Discontinued and Renamed Post Offices (Crete, Nebraska: J-B Publishing Company, 1976), 195.
5. Clyde B. Atchison, “Historical Addresses: the Mormon settlements in the Missouri Valley ,” L. Tom Perry Special Collections Library, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University , Provo , Utah .
6. History of Harrison County , Iowa , 180.
7. http://www.rootsweb.com/~iaharris/twp/rangemap.htm
8. History of Harrison County , Iowa , 181.
9. History of Harrison County , Iowa , 182.
10. www.rootsweb.com/~iaharris/pioneer/RLDS_Biglers_Grove.htm
11. Southwestern Iowa Guide: Geology--Points of Interest—History (Federal Writers' Projects of the Works Progress Administration, 1936), 85; Ramsey, Postmarked Iowa : A List of Discontinued and Renamed Post Offices , 193, 195.
12. History of Harrison County , Iowa , 180.
13. History of Harrison County, Iowa , 180; www.rootsweb.com/~iaharris/cemetery/biglers.htm?o_xid=9872&o_lid-9872&o_xt=qIZw
14. www.rootsweb.com/~iaharris/cemetery/biglers.htm?o_xid=9872&o_lid-9872&o_xt=qIZw
15. www.rootsweb.com/~iaharris/pioneer/RLDS_Biglers_Grove.htm ; www.rootsweb.com/~iaharris/cemetery/biglers.htm?o_xid=9872&o_lid-9872&o_xt=qIZw
16. www.rootsweb.com/~iaharris/pioneer/RLDS_Biglers_Grove.htm ; www.rootsweb.com/~iaharris/cemetery/biglers.htm?o_xid=9872&o_lid-9872&o_xt=qIZw
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Harris Grove |
Location
Harris Grove village was located 26 miles north of Council Bluffs in LaGrange, Jefferson,
and Union Townships, Harrison County, Iowa . (1) Harrison County was part of Pottawattamie
County at the time the LDS pioneers lived there.
It spanned the LaGrange, Jefferson, and Union Townships .
The Latter-day Saints found springs and streams plentiful with the major creek bearing the same
name as the village (Harris Grove) and running through the town. The grove of trees in the
community was extensive (about 5,000 acres) and fit for providing firewood and building material
for the people living there. “Harris Grove . . . was a large body of timber . . . located in Lagrange,
Union and Jefferson Townships, the greater part of it lying south of Harris Grove Creek, in
LaGrange Township . The timber consisted of burr oak, red oak, black walnut, red and white elm,
basswood, hackberry, mulberry, white hickory, black cherry, thorn apple, white willow along the
creeks, and an occasional cottonwood.
“The water in the creeks, during the greater part of this period, was clear and sparkling except for
a short time following a heavy rain.
“Small fish such as chub and shiners were in great abundance and afforded the boys rare sport in
catching them with a pin hook fastened with a string to a hazel rod.
“Springs gushed from the ground at short distances apart the entire length of all creeks. The banks
of Harris Grove Creek, and of its smaller branches in most places were about a foot higher than the
water and extended back from the water's edge, with few exceptions, from one to eight rods, where a second rise of ground, quite abrupt, formed a
boundary for the higher creek bottom. The shore strip of land or border was covered in many places with marsh grass, water lilies, cat tail, flags, and bull
rushes. It was miry in many places as was the bed of the creeks.
“The beavers had a dam in the creek in the NW ¼ SW ¼, Section 2, LaGrange Township, just below where the Mill Frame built by Ezra Perry and Michael
Rogers stood, and was often used by the boys for a ‘swimmin' hole.'” Later, a large influx of settlers to the area depleted the forest which resulted in erosion,
changing the topography of Harris Grove Creek. (2)
History
John Harris was the first to move to the grove that became his namesake. He moved there in the spring of 1848 and built the first log cabin. (3) “The cabin
stood just a little west and south of the center of the NW ¼ NE ¼ of Section 12, La Grange Township .” The cabin no longer stands. Permanent settlement
began in 1851. By this time, about thirty cabins had already been built.
Between 1848 and 1852, nearly 300 Latter-day Saints lived in Harris Grove. (4) People who were not adherents to the LDS faith lived in Harris Grove
concurrently with the Saints in 1851-1852 before the Mormon pioneers removed to Utah Territory . At least six families of other faiths had moved to Harris
Grove by the end of 1852. Some of these newcomers moved into vacant cabins left or sold to them by Latter-day Saints. (5)
John Harris arrived in the spring of 1848. (6) McKenney writes that he came in 1846. (7)
While some left earlier, the majority of the Saints living at Harris Grove left in the spring of 1852. They “left their cabins and went into camp in
SE ¼ NE ¼ of Section 14, Lagrange Township . This place has since been called ‘Vore's Hollow.' “In May they broke camp and with food for
the journey, and with all their household goods packed into canvas covered wagons, drawn by cow and ox teams, started on the long and tedious
trail that was to lead them to promised bliss and happiness, in the land of Brigham Young, away out in Utah.” (8) The branch chose three men to
be “captins” of groups of “teens,” namely George W. Taggart, William B. Adams, and Robert Wimmer. (9) Many of the families from Harris Grove
traveled either in the Allen Weeks or the Robert Wimmer Company. (10) Both of these leaders had lived in Harris Grove. (11) The Wimmer
Company left Kanesville in “early July 1852,” and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on 15 September of the same year. The Weeks Company left
Kanesville 18 July and arrived in the Salt Lake valley 12 October 1852 .
Robert Wimmer was Harris Grove's Frontier Guardian representative. (12)
Although the Mormon pioneers' stay was temporary, they did not deny themselves the blessings of civilized life. They built a school house, which
was erected sometime before May 1851 and doubled as a site for Church leadership meetings. The school house mentioned in the Church's
“Record of Members” may be the same one mentioned in the 1891 Harrison County History, which describes “a rude log hovel . . . over on
section 6, of Union Township and the first teacher was James McCurley.” (13) The Saints also built a log tabernacle, which McKenney says
they used for Church meetings, “social gatherings, and for a wagon and blacksmith shop.” (14) He further states, “[The] tabernacle was a double
log building,” possibly 576 feet square. (15) This tabernacle was one of relatively few in the region, attesting to the uniqueness of the settlement.
(16)
In conjunction with the use of the tabernacle as a wagon shop, the Saints built a “whip saw mill” nearby, which was used to make boards “for
various purposes such as wagon boxes, coffins, and food containers.” (17)
"The Saints lived in log cabins. “The houses were usually sixteen by eighteen feet in size, about seven feet high, with a small garret made by poles
laid crosswise of the building, the ends resting in notches cut between the two upper logs. A floor was made on these cross poles by the use of
small saplings cut for the purpose. This apartment was used as a chiffonier.
“The Mormons, by using logs that were hewn on opposite sides, built a few cabins called ‘Hewn log cabins,' to which a number were added
by the permanent settlers. These houses were very much prized by the ladies of the period. After the settler had selected and staked out the
site upon which the house was to be erected, he would, with oxen, snake or drag the logs from the woods, placing the right number of logs at
each side of the selected site, then this being done an invitation was extended to attend the ‘Raising' upon an appointed day, sickness being the
only thing that could detain them from attending.
“The permanent settlers, to make more room, often moved a vacated cabin or built a new one within about eight feet of the one in which they
lived. The space thus left was logged up at the sides and covered by a joining the roof of both houses, and was used as a spare bed room or
as a place to store many articles not in every day use . . .
“About each of these cabins was a small field, fenced with rails or brush, from which these migrating people obtained sustenance except that
which was supplied by nature, such as game and wild fruits, and some groceries that were procured at Kanesville, now Council Bluffs,
twenty-six miles away.” (18)
“Harris Grove: A post office (1863-67) first in section 14, LaGrange Township, and later moved to one or more locations in the township
before it was discontinued.” (19)
Settlers in Harris Grove: James Orander, William Howard, Asa Earl, Thomas W. Reeder and SArah (Howard) Reeder, John A. McKenny,
Michael I. McKenny, Thomas McKenney, James B. McCurley, John Rogers, James D. Rogers, Simeon J. Comfort, Alfred Longman, Samuel
Jack, Jacob S. Vanderhoof, William Cokeley, William Haner, Joseph L. Deforest, Jackson Daugherty, Stuart Alexander, and Charles Carvalhoe.
(20)
Births: Harriet Maria Taggart Goodridge writes, “I was born in Pottawattamie County , Iowa , September 2, 1848, my parents having left
Nauvoo February 1, 1846. I was the daughter of Fannie Parks and George W. Taggart. My father returned to Iowa , December 17, 1847 ,
after having been discharged from service with the Mormon Battalion. From this time until July 1852, he worked at Harris Grove, making
wagons, and preparing for the journey across the plains. In 1852, we left Iowa for Salt Lake City , arriving there Oct. 17.” (21) Cirus Bates
(3 June 1849), Ann Jenett Bates (30 September 1849), Allen B. Weeks (21 October 1848), Ormos Bates Nay (25 April 1850), and Milando
Pratt (30 September 1848) were all born in Harris Grove and received a child's blessing at the hands of Orson Pratt. Mary Elmina Weeks
(21 October 1848) and Henry A. Zufelt were born in Harris Grove as well and received a child's blessing by Ormos E. Bates. (22) Others
born at Harris Grove include Thomas G. Wimmer (10 May 1847), Moroni Ward (8 June 1851), Abraham Junius Perkins (11 August 1848),
and Harriet Maria Taggart Goodridge (2 September 1848). (23)
For directions to Harris Grove from Council Bluffs , follow the directions at the site below, then take 296 th St. heading east. The Harris
Grove Cemetery and Chapel are near the intersection of 296 th and Quentin Tr. http://www.mapquest.com/directions/
Cemeteries
The Saints began a cemetery at Harris Grove, probably around 4 March 1849, the date of the earliest death mentioned at the settlement.
(24) The Saints note only three deaths in their official Church record. The Frontier Guardian reported just one death. (25)
The earliest burial date was 4 March 1849 . See paragraph above.
In 1879, the then-current citizens of Harris Grove moved their dead from the original LDS cemetery to a new site, leaving the dead of the
departed “Mormons” where they were. McKenney states that the “remains of about twenty persons were not removed, and are now lying
beneath a cultivated field.” (26) Considering this statement, either substantially more Mormon pioneers died than are recorded, or many of
those “twenty persons” were not of the LDS faith. Whatever the explanation of the 20 unmoved graves, it seems likely that more than three
people died among the approximately 300 LDS residents in Harris Grove four years' time. One possible explanation for the lack of recorded
deaths is that not everyone buried their dead in the cemetery. McKenney writes of at least one “little Mormon girl” buried away from the
cemetery by a tree with the name “ Elizabeth ” carved on it. (27) To see a list of people buried in the modern Harris Grove Cemetery , pictures
of the graveyard, gravestones, the “Harris Grove Memorial Chapel,” and its physical address in Harrison County , Iowa , visit the following
address: http://www.rootsweb.com/~iaharris/cemetery/harris.htm?o_xid=9872&o_lid=9872&o_xt=9872 .
Notes
1. Horace H. McKenney, Pioneer History of Harris Grove, 1851-1861 (Democrat Print , 1923), 3.
2. McKenney, Pioneer History of Harris Grove , 3-4.
3. History of Harrison County , Iowa : containing full-page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative
citizens of the county: together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of Iowa, and the presidents of the United States
(Chicago: National Publishing Company, 1891) , 246. Also see http://www.rootsweb.com/~iaharris/twp/twplagra.htm . McKenney states
that John Harris arrived in 1846. The “Record of Members, 1848-1852,” Microform No. 1741, p. 13 indicates that an LDS branch was
organized in Harris Grove on 15 July 1848
4. McKenney, Pioneer History of Harris Grove , 3.
5. Ronald G. Watt, Iowa Branch Index, 1839-1859 (1991), 35; United States Federal Census, 1850, 90-94; “Record of Members,
1848-1852,” 14-31. Microfilm #1741, Family History Library, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University , Provo , Utah .
6. History of Harrison County , Iowa , 246.
7. McKenney, Pioneer History of Harris Grove , 3.
8. Ibid.
9. “Record of Members, 1848-1852,” 1, 3-4.
10. Watt, Iowa Branch Index, 1839-1859 , 35; “Record of Members, 1848-1852,” 14-31; United States Federal Census, 1850, 90-94.
See lists prepared by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints online at lds.org. See Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847-1868:
Robert Wimmer Company (1852) ; Allan Weeks Company (1852) [online]. Intellectual Reserve, Inc., 2005.
11. Watt, Iowa Branch Index, 1839-1859 , 35.
12. Orson Hyde, ed., Frontier Guardian ( Kanesville , Iowa ), 4 April 1851.
13. “Record of Members, 1848-1852,” 3; History of Harrison County , Iowa , 249. James B. McCurley is mentioned on the United
States Federal Census, 1900.
14. McKenney, Pioneer History of Harris Grove , 6-7.
15. McKenney, Pioneer History of Harris Grove , 6, 9.
16. The pioneers built tabernacles at Council Point, Harris Grove, Kanesville, Pigeon Creek, and Tennessee Hollow.
17. McKenney, Pioneer History of Harris Grove , 7.
18. McKenney, Pioneer History of Harris Grove, 3.
19. David C. Mott, Abandoned Towns, Villages and Post Offices of Iowa (Iowa City: Iowa State Historical Society, 1910-1912),
53; David C. Mott, “Abandoned Towns, Villages and Post Offices of Iowa ,” Annals of Iowa , vol. 17, Oct. 1910-Jan. 1912.
20. McKenney, Pioneer History of Harris Grove , 17-31.
21. Our Pioneer Heritage , Vol. 15, 298.
22. “Record of Members, 1848-1852,” 45-48.
23. Frank Esshom, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah (Salt Lake City: Western Epics, 1966), 1254; Andrew Jenson, LDS
Biographical Encyclopedia: a compilations of biographical sketches of prominent men and women in The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Western Epics, 1971), Vol. 1, 459, Vol. 2, 198; Kate B. Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage
(Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1958-1977), Vol. 15, 298.
24. “Record of Members, 1848-1852,” 37.
25. Lyndon W. Cook, Death and Marriage Notices from the Frontier Guardian, 1849-1852 (Orem, Utah: Center for Research of
Mormon Origins , 1990), 16.
26.
"David C. Mott, 'Abandoned Towns, Villages and Post Offices of Iowa,' Annals of Iowa 17 (3): 533." McKenney, Pioneer History
of Harris Grove, 6.
27. Ibid.
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Lytle's Grove
(Little Sioux)
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Little Sioux resides in the North Eastern corner of the larger Little Sioux Township in Harrison County, Iowa. The Missouri River runs east of the town and the Little Sioux River cuts diagonally through the township to join the Missouri River near the 27th section of the township. The city is named after this river and was formally organized in 1854. Prior to the city’s and county’s formal organization all the settlements under the umbrella of the Little Sioux Township were lumped under that one name which makes the early history of this area difficult in deciphering which settlement is being spoken of in documents relating to “Little Sioux”.
In the early years of establishment the city formed a school district in April, 1857 called the Little Sioux Township District (1) and their post office was established on July 1, 1857 with Silas W. Condit as the Postmaster. In that same year a massacre occurred near Spirit Lake just south of the settlement which made early inhabitants fear that future settlers would not choose to settle in Little Sioux. In spite of these fears the Indian threat did not hamper the expansion and development of Little Sioux.
Eventually the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was established in 1876 in Little Sioux and it was led by D.M. Gamet as the presiding Elder. A majority of citizens in the city joined this church and Little Sioux was a stronghold of the early RLDS Church. (2)
The economy of Little Sioux during initial settlement was empowered by farming and saw mills that cut a great deal of lumber from the 2,000 acres (3) of the forests surrounding the city. The first saw mill was built by James F. Scofield in the year 1857. (4)
Many of the initial settlers are buried in cemeteries surrounding Little Sioux called Little Sioux Cemetery, Fountainbleau Cemetery (formerly known as Old Murray Hill Cemetery), and Conyers Cemetery. A description of the most prominent settlers will follow.
Silas W. Condit was one of the first to arrive and settle the town of Little Sioux in the year 1848 with his family and the family of T.B. Neely. He settled this town instead of going west with the Mormons for reasons of the polygamous teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from Brigham Young. Another possible reason for leaving the LDS Church could be the suspicion that his uncle Amos W. was shot and killed by a man, Gean, at a place called Trader’s Point near Council Bluffs and thought to be harbored by the Elders of the Church. (5)
Silas was married three separate times: First, he married on June 17, 1842 to Julia N. Parker. She gave birth to Parker S. on May 3, 1843 who would live in Little Sioux with Silas and the other members of the family upon the death of Julia on January 17, 1844. Second, he married Sarah P. Hiscock on September 27, 1844. She bore Mary A. in 1845, John H. in 1847, Leonard D. in 1859, Sarah M. in 1852, Cordelia in 1855, Julia A. in 1856, Dannet S. in 1859, and Frederick in 1867. Sarah passed away on May 3, 1867. Third, he married Cordelia Waldo who was born on September 15, 1839. Cordelia gave birth to Lottie E. in 1871, Frank A. in 1873, Bertha M. in 1876, and Catherine C. in 1878.
Silas provided for his family as a chair maker (6) as he laid out the village of Little Sioux with T.B. Neeley. Through these endeavors and his relations with the Indians he was given the nickname “Tunger-Maw-Le”, which means Big Knife. He died on October 27, 1879. (7)
One of the most prominent members of the Condit family in Little Sioux was Parker S. Condit. He was married May 10, 1863 to Sarah A Garnett and they had Edgar S. on April 4, 1864; David S. on January 5, 1866; Mary A. on August 4, 1869; Elizabeth C. on September 25, 1872. Sarah died on November 27, 1872. His second wife Clarissa C. Pangborn was married to him on September 27, 1873. She had Raymond N. S. on August 4, 1874; Peter on October 10, 1875; Mary E. on September 9, 1877; and Charles E. on September 12, 1879. Eventually he moved to River Sioux to live with her where he established one of the first ferries across the Missouri River in the Little Sioux Township. (8)
Parker says that he and his family had many run-ins with the Indians where they were gravely threatened and very little formal education. In one of the stories his father, Silas, was held up at gun point and his mother, Julia or Sarah, took a gun and sought to scare the Indians away while they themselves were being held up at gun point. To this, Silas quickly took the gun and made her remain in bed while the Indians kept their aim on the family with their rifles. Another time one of the two wives tried to scare the Indians off by gently swinging a shovel towards the head of one of the Indians but slipped and pummeled the Indian hard on the head. After that the Indians called her a “heap brave squaw”. Parker recalls only having eight or so terms of formal schooling in his childhood, and he spoke of braided rags being used to make a wick for their lanterns, and making buckskin suits sewn together from the sinews of a deer’s spine. (9)
Another early settler was Nathaniel Neely who helped settle Little Sioux proper in 1852. He was father to Sarah A., James, Robert H., T.B., Louisa (The first girl married in Harrison county), Mary J., Martha E., and Hugh Neely. Nathaniel Died in 1875 and Malinda his wife died in 1861; they are both buried in the Murray Cemetery (now known as Founatinbleau Cemetery) along with their children Malinda and Robert. (10)
Thomas B. Neely (T.B.), son of Nathaniel Neely, helped Silas Condit settle the area and helped attain the amenities of a post office and other outside support for the town with his connections in the State Government. He was married to Maggy and had Isabella in 1864; Frank T. 1865; George M. 1868; Charles A. 1870; James H. 1873; Irene P. 1875; Maggy M. 1877; and Leroy R. 1879. (11)
T.B. Neely owned a portion of land that was on the outer edges of Little Sioux that was developed without his permission by Charles Larpentuer, Michael and Jerry Quinn, and Thos. These men settled the area and named it the town of Fountainbleau, after Charles Larpentuer’s hometown in France. When T.B. Neely sought to have his portion and influence concerning the town he was excluded from development talks and the interests of the other men were foremost in settlement. They “robbed him of justice” in having an “interest in the town” and he sought to “kill” the town. He had the Congressman Gus Hall remove their Postmaster and other local officers and had himself and Silas Condit replace them. Silas was now the Postmaster and Little Sioux had precedence over the town of Fountainbleau. (12)
Charles Larpentuer was one of the earliest settlers of the area who was able to have settlement conflicts with the residents of the town of Little Sioux. He settled the town of Fountainbleau which is on the outskirts of Little Sioux. In 1853 the Indian wife of Charles Larpenteur was killed by Omaha Indians involved in a dispute with the Sioux. On the 3rd of April 1854 he married Rebecca White. She died on March 28, 1899 in Little Sioux. Charles died on died on November 15, 1872 and is Buried in the Fountainbleau Cemetery, which is located just North of Little Sioux. (13)
Jerry (or Thos) and Michael Quinn settled in the 19th section around 1854 with Charles Larpentuer. Michael arbitrated land issues with T.B. Neely and relations quickly soured between the two. T.B. Terry bought their lands and they moved west. (14)
David M. and Hannah Gamet settled in Little Sioux and established the first general merchandise store in Little Sioux during 1857. He was also engaged in the hotel business, his hotel being the “headquarters” for the stages belonging to the line between Sioux City and Council Bluffs. He left The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints because he was unable to accept the polygamous teachings of Brigham Young. A few years after he had settled in Little Sioux President Joseph of The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints came to his house and David began his affiliation with them as a Bishop and President of the High Priest Quorum in Little Sioux. (15)
Moses German was born in Ohio in the year 1820 and he settled in Little Sioux around 1855. He soon became the Deputy Sheriff of the county and a well respected citizen of the area. While living in Little Sioux he was married to Elizabeth Jane Brazelton (aka Eliza J.) in the late 1840’s. Shortly after their marriage they moved to Lodomillo, Clayton, Iowa. They had two children named Mary F. in about 1848 and Ollis or Allis E. in about 1843. (16)
Elijah Ellis came from Ohio in 1851 to Little Sioux but returned to Ohio soon after. His family then came by boat in 1855 and rented a farm and lodging from the Martins for one year. Together they had William J. in 1857 in Ohio; John M. in 1858 in Iowa; Delmon in 1862; Jsobal or Estel in 1864; Elijah S. or Elbert in 1867; Essie in May 1870; and Mary in 1872. (17)
Gabriel Cotton (Lovoen or Lovsen) settled in the early 50’s. He was married to Mary Jane King in 1848 in Iowa. He sold his plot to Mr. McCauley in 1856 and moved on to Bingham Canyon, Utah and had Alice Cotton in May of 1867. Gabriel died on July 24, 1873. (18)
George Montague was a local Blacksmith in the area and Mormon preacher in the area but when his wife died he left to Wilburton, Oklahoma.
Notes:
1. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iaharris/twp/twplsiou.htm, April 30, 2008.
2. http://books.google.com/books?id=bH8HtIwXzdcC&printsec=titlepage&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPA306,M1, pages 307-8, April 30, 2008.
3. History of Harrison County, Iowa. National Publishing Company: Chicago, 1891, p. 185.
4. http://www.accessgenealogy.com/iowa/harrison/littlesioux/index.htm, July, 29, 2005; and http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iaharris/census/1860/1860Sioux.htm, May 14, 2008.
5. http://www.condit-family.com/info/parkerCondit.html#silasStory, April 30, 2008.
6.http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=0%2c0&pcc=2&gl=33&gsco=United+States&gsfn=&gsln=Condit&gskw=&submit=go&o_xid=0039743482&o_lid=0039743482&o_xt=39743482&cj=1&o_xid=0001155785&o_lid=0001155785, April 30, 2008 AND
Condit, Jotham H., and Eben Condit. Genealogical Record of the Condit Family : Descendants of John Conditt, A Native of Great Britain, who settled in Newark, N.J. 1678 to 1885. Ward & Tichenor: Newark, NJ, 1885, page 88-89.
7. Wilcox, Pearl. Roots of the Reorganized Latter Day Saints in Southern Iowa. P.G. Wilcox: Independence, Missouri, 1989, p. 158.
8. http://www.condit-family.com/info/parkerCondit.html#silasStory, April 30, 2008.
9. http://www.condit-family.com/info/parkerCondit.html#silasStory, April 30, 2008.
10. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iaharris/bio/geneal21.htm#neeley, April 30, 2008.
11. 1880 United States Census. Census at Little Sioux, Harrison, Iowa. Family History Library Film 1254343. NA Film number T9-0343. Page number 16A. http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=ancestorsearchresults.asp, April 30, 2008.
12. T.B. Neely, http://www.condit-family.com/info/littleSioux.html, April 30, 2008.
13. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iaharris/cemetery/fountainbleau.htm AND
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iaharris/twp/twplsiou.htm article by Mark Grassman., April 30, 2008.
14. http://www.condit-family.com/info/littleSioux.html, April 30, 2008.
15 . Western History of western Iowa, Its Settlement and Growth, A Comprehensive Compilation of Progressive Events Concerning the Counties, Cities, Towns, and Villages-Biographical of the Pioneers and Businessmen, with an Authentic History of the State of Iowa . Western Publishing Company: Sioux City, 1882. pgs 306-309. THIS BOOK IS FOUND ON THIS WEBSITE
http://books.google.com/books?id=bH8HtIwXzdcC&printsec=titlepage&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPA306,M1 page 306-09.
16. http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=ancestorsearchresults.asp AND
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-in/sse.dll?db=1860usfedcenancestry&so=2&rank=0&gsfn=Moses&gsln=German&sx=&gs1co=2%2cUSA&gs1pl=18%2cIowa&year=1840&yearend=1890&sbo=0&sbor=&ufr=0&wp=4%3b_80000002%3b_80000003&srchb=r&prox=1&db=&ti=0&ti.si=0&gss=angs-b&o_iid=21416&o_lid=21416, April 30, 2008.
17. http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=View&r=an&dbid=7163&iid=IAM593_395-0134&fn=Elijah&ln=Ellis&st=r&ssrc=&pid=35419739 AND
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=ancestorsearchresults.asp, April 30, 2008.
18. http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=ancestorsearchresults.asp, April 30, 2008.
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Twelve Mile Grove |
Location
Twelve Mile Grove was located in Douglas Township, which is bounded on the east by Shelby county, on the south by Cass Township , on the west by Boyer Township and on the north by Harrison township. (1)
Douglas Township was a prairie township, except a thousand cares in a small grove, including “Twelve Mile Grove.” Picqyune Creek and small feeders run through township. Picayune Creek was named by a band of land seekers, one of whom said, "I would not give a Picayune for this country!" (2)
History
Organization of Douglas Township dates back to 1868. It was named in honor of Stephen A. Douglas. The first settler to arrive in the area was a Mormon named Pierce, who came in 1851 or 1852. The Mefferds and Mathew Hall soon followed. In about 1856 residents started a public school at George Mefferd's home, but a school building wasn't erected until after the Civil War. A RLDS branch was formed at Twelve Mile Grove on 24 April 1864 and continued ten years until the membership transferred to Six Mile Grove branch. (3)
Twelve Mile Grove was listed in the U.S. postal records as a post office in Warren County in 1863, but the location was not found. (4)
The Frontier Guardian of September 19, 1851, printed the following advertisement:
"STRAYED.
"SUPPOSED to have strayed from the Twelve mile grove, on or about the 28th of July, FIVE HEAD OF CATTLE. One red, has a big or swelled jaw, about 6 years old; one brindled, with a white stripe crossing the shoulder, and long horns, (had a rope on them;) one red and white, with one ear pierced, these two about 5 years old; one white spotted with red; and one red, with horns turned back, about 4 years old and rather small.
"Whosoever shall give information of the above, which will lead to their recovery at the Frontier Guardian office, for Bishop Lane, shall receive a righteous man's reward.
"N.B. They have all been severely marked with the whip.
"Kanesville, Sept. 19th, 1851." (5)
Deaths
The Frontier Guardian of 6 February 1852 reported the following death:
"Twelve Mile Grove. Hawkins, Samuel H., a native of England, 22 January 1852, at Twelve Mile Grove, 48 years Old." (6)
Notes:
1. Walsh, “ Harrison County Iowa Genealogy Douglas Township ,” Nov 2005.
2. Walsh, “ Harrison County Iowa Genealogy Douglas Township ,” Nov 2005.
3. Walsh, “ Harrison County Iowa Genealogy Douglas Township ,” Nov 2005.
4. “The Iowa Ghost Towns Project, November 2005.
5. Myrtle Stevens Hyde, Kanesville Advertisements (Ogden, Utah: Myrtle Stevens Hyde, 1993), 128.
6. Lyndon W. Cook, Death and Marriage Notices from the Frontier Guardian, 1849-1852.
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Walker's Grove |
Location
Walker's Grove was located in the southern part of Washington township (1).
It has only native timber in the township (2).
History
Hugh Walker was the first man to come to Washington township and start building homes. He came in 1849 and settled at the grove (3).
The settlement was named after Walker, the first resident (4).
The first school in the township was taught in Walker's Grove at a private house
Notes:
1. Walsh, “ Harrison County Iowa Genealogy Washington Township , Dec 2005.
2. Walsh, “ Harrison County Iowa Genealogy Washington Township , Dec 2005.
3. Walsh, “ Harrison County Iowa Genealogy Washington Township , Dec 2005.
4. Walsh, “ Harrison County Iowa Genealogy Washington Township , Dec 2005.
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Woodbine |
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Images from: http://www.itsjudy.com/harrison/1868%20townships/boyer.htm
In 1866, Woodbine, Iowa, was named from a vine in England and began it's growth as a trade center. A well balanced community with locally owned utilities, a variety of housing, an excellent school system, industrial growth, added facilities for health and extended care, a focus on youth and community development, an expanded Carnegie Library, and added recreational activities. A unique city with seven churches, and an old country school and railroad museums, an annual rodeo and Applefest festival. (2)
"In about 1850 two school houses were built, one at Bigler's Grove and one at Woodbine. The Episcopal Methodist organized a church with six or seven members. From this small beginning, a church has sprung up with two to three hundred members and a new church building has been erected in Woodbine. (1) |
One of the first settlers in 1849 to Boyer Township was Lorenzo and Ann Butler. Mr. Butler is said to have had the first store in the growing settlement. In true frontier fashion, the Post Office was located in the store. Mrs. Butler was the first Postmistress and she was allowed to name the office. Remembering the flowering vine, which had clambered around the door and windows of her English home, she chose the name "Woodbine". In 1854 a saw mill and corn cracker were erected about 1½ miles east of the present town. In 1862 a woolen mill was added and after the Civil War, a flour mill was built. The town was platted in 1866, the same year in which the Chicago Northwestern Railroad began regular runs from Cedar Falls to Council Bluffs. (3)
"Woodbine was laid off in October, 1865, on prairie, where up to that time not even a wagon road crossed the town site. The town now contains about three hundred buildings, all told. It contains two dry goods stores, two hotels, two drug stores, one grocery store, one saddle and harness shop, one lumber yard, two physicians, and one produce dealer. When this town was first laid off the railroad company had their station here, and proposed to build their round house, tank, machine shop at this place, but in the summer of 1867, they changed their design and moved their division to Dunlap, and there built these contemplated buildings. This was hard on Woodbine. But there is one thing which the company can never do, and that is to take the surrounding country from them. While it must be admitted with the loss of these buildings the town lost much, still when we look at the broad farms, and know in less than one year, they will number twice what they now do, we feel that Woodbine is scarcely up with the country. It is emphatically a farmer's town, and will be supported by them. They come here to market their grain and produce, and buy their merchandise. Although it is not expected that Woodbine will become a great city, it is confidently believed that it will always be a good trading point, and although its growth may not be as rapid as other places, it will continue with a permanent healthy growth." (1)
Link to the Woodbine Cemetery Website: http://www.rootsweb.com/~iaharris/cemetery/woodbine.htm |
Notes:
1.http://www.itsjudy.com/harrison/1868%20townships/boyer.htm
2. http://www.woodbineia.org/history.htm
3. http://www.itsjudy.com/harrison/1868%20townships/boyer.htm
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