Allred's Camp |
Some of the settlement's early residents were: Samuel, Mary, William, Maria, Sarah, Caroline, and Mary Wood; John, Primrose, Sarah, and Andrew Shields; Lucious Rebecca, Augustus, Perry, Emaline, and Lucy Bingham; William Sr., Maria, Joseph, Henry, and Hyrum Watkins; William Jr., Mary, Susan, and Maria Watkins; Richard, Mary, Martha, Richard, John, Rachel, and Jacob Spencer; James Sr., Sarah, Martha, James Jr., and William Brackin; David, Cyntha, Mary, Elizabeth, David, Margaret, Rebecca, Jane, and Cyntha Osborn; David, Martha, John, Ancel, Delazou, Chloa, Ransen, and Albeou Young; William M., Orissa, William, Mary, Byron, and Marrin Allred, and Mary Corbage. (1) “We stayed in Winter Quarters one winter, then we moved back to the east side of the River, to where my Father lived. On the 29th of May 1847 our second son Byron Harvey was born. I had to go off to Missouri to work and one time when I started Byron was such a sickly puny little thing, but when I cam back he was so large and fat I did not know him, an it was a long time before he looked natural . . . (1847) In 1847 the Pioneers went to Salt Lake Valley and back in Dec 19 my Br. Reddick got back from the Battalion. He had a very hard time of it. He had to eat raw hide and mule meat and mules Brains. “(1848) In this year my Father and the most of his family got ready, and in the spring of 1849 they all crossed the plains but redden and I. Father sold his place to me. While I lived at this place Oliver Cowdry came back to the Church, and I was present when he spoke to the Conference, but he went back to Missouri and died before he had the opportunity to come to Salt Lake . “(1850) I think it was in this year that Orson Pratt came from England on a visit, as part of his family were here and part in England, (as he was there on a Mission). He was here at the April Conference, and it was so very dry the people began to have great fears about their crops. When he was called upon to open the Conference with prayer, he prayed for rain, and it was as clear as it could be, not a cloud to be seen, and just as the Conference was dismissed, it commenced to sprinkle rain, (the meeting was in a grove), and he and I started to walk to my house (8 miles) and when we got home we were as wet as though we had been in a River. “Marvin Adelbirt, was born at this place on the 13 th of August 1849. While living at this place I worked with Samuel Wood at wagon work and after I left the shop, I made the first wagon I ever owned from Bottom to Top (excepting the iron work) and painted it. I mad my yokes and bows. I raised a yoke of steers and broke them to be quite handy, then I got a yoke of oxen of Orson Pratt, and then I had two cows yoked up, and that completed my team.” (2) Josiah Hammond married Elizabeth Osborn at Allred's Camp on 31 August 1851. (3) “In the spring as soon as the feed was good enough we continued our journey to Council Bluffs arriving there early in July and located on a branch of Little Pigion, known as Allred's Camp. Here we found my brother-in-law Joseph Hammond, and his family and his wife's parents and relatives all preparing to leave for the West. We occupied their cabins and went into basket making and a little farming, in order to obtain an outfit for future traveling. The Saints had gathered here quite rapidly and Kanesville was the principal location with apostle Orson Hyde presiding. We were very prosperous in the disposal of all the baskets we could make while located here, making frequent trips into Missouri with them and exchanging them for such things as we needed. We employed Brother Lucious Bingham to take several loads and sell on commission. My father having been taken sick while at Garden Grove, when the place was discontinued, was taken down to Marysville in Missouri, a number of the Saints going to the same place. It was thought by some that my father was dead, but Bishop Evans said not so and through the exercise of faith and prayer he finally recovered. “My father-in-law, his daughter Sarah and myself in 1848 went into Missouri and camped on the Nodoway river for a short time making baskets. It being twenty miles from the place where my parents were, I concluded to go out and see them. In those days twenty miles seemed a long distance. After walking about six miles I came to where there was a grocery store and a few scattered houses, also a saloon. There was a man there with a team. He had been to the Nodoway Hills and was going within four or five miles of Marysville. He said he would be glad of my company and I certainly was glad of a chance to ride. The man, however, hung around the store and occasionally drinking with friends, he got very drunk and did not know what he was doing. They got him into the wagon and gave me directions as to where he lived and I drove the team to his home. His folks were glad he got home safely, and I remained with them over night. The next morning after breakfast I started to go to Marysville. Had gone about a couple of miles when whom should [I] meet but my parents and brothers on their way moving to St. Joseph Missouri . It did not take much persuading to have them go to our camp on the Nodoway river. They remained with us till we got ready to return home, then we all went to our home on the Little Pigeon. My parents settled in another grove but a short distance from us and fenced in a piece of timber and built a log cabin. “On August 30, 1848, my daughter Susan Elizabeth was born. This was a very favorable place for the Saints to prepare for their journey. Travelers to California coming along made a fine market for all the corn we could raise and bringing a good price. A great many began to make good improvements and much business was done at Kanesville. We were getting along comfortably considering the circumstances and the people were generally quite satisfied with the location. I engaged an outfit and started for the west in the spring of 1850. Daughter Maria Lovisa was born August 10, 1850. In 1851, the missionaries were sent by President Young urging the saints to hasten on to Salt Lake. Apostle Benson was laboring in our vicinity, it being decided to vacate Council Bluffs completely and all were required to unite and leave. The next spring I had on my claim a nice lot of timber suitable for wagon building, also for ox bows, and wagon bows, and I worked on the same to good advantage from this seasoned wood and by changing work succeeded in building my own wagon which brought me across the plains, in company with my father and mother and three brothers.” (4) Alexander Neibaur says in his diary that he and his party “Reached Father James Allreads camp” sometime around July 20, 1847. They only stayed until 28 July. (5) William M. Allred was the settlement's Frontier Guardian representative. (6) “We have the names of some forty or fifty other settlements in southwestern Iowa . Little of these remains, however, but their name and memory and a half-rotted squared log occasionally plowed up. 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.” The footnote at this point lists Allred's Camp as one of those locations described in this paragraph. (7) Notes: 1. 1850 United States Federal Census, 246-248. 2. William Moore Allred, A Short Biographical History and Diary of William Moore Allred, 1819-1901 ( Utah ? : Joyce Allred West, 1984), 4-5. 3. FamilySearch.org 4. William Lampard Watkins, A Brief History of the Life of William Lampard Watkins from His Birth Until His Arrival in Utah on September 12 th , 1852 ( Brigham City , Utah ?: s.n., 1946), 3-4. 5. Alexander Neibaur, “Diary and Family Biographies, 1841-1972,” folder 2, pp. 19-20 (unpublished manuscript, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah). 6. Orson Hyde, ed., Frontier Guardian (4 April 1851). 7. 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. |
Big Grove |
Location Is it located within another township? Yes. It is in present-day Belknap Township (1). Any unique features such as located by a creek, river, etc. It is located near the West Nishnabotna River (2). History When was it established? Joseph Hancock moved here with his family in 1848, so Big Grove had at least been established by that point (3). Who were the early residents? Mormon pioneers were the first to move to this locale, followed slowly by people of other faiths (4). One of the early residents was Susan Files. On 16 April 1860, she gave birth to a daughter, Susan E. Files. The mother died on 26 May of that same year. The child survived a little over a year after the mother’s death, but finally succumbed on 18 September 1861 (5). Did it have other names It is now called Oakland (6). How were the names established? The name, Big Grove, is probably self-explanatory, and Oakland may perhaps be the same. When did the Mormons arrive? The Mormons may have first arrived sometime around 1848. If so, this opening of a new settlement probably coincided with the saints’ required removal from Winter Quarters. The U.S. government called for the saints to move away from their town, which at that time was “on Indian lands” (7). Were there any unique contributions or events during their stay? None have been found thus far. When did most of the Mormons leave? Most left in 1851 or 1852 (8). Did the town have a Frontier Guardian representative, if so who? No, it did not (9). Big Grove Cemetery is on a small road called G42, a little west of Oakland (10). http://www.rootsweb.com/~iapottaw/CemBigGrove.htm; http://iagenweb.org/pottawattamie/cemeteries.htm; http://www.biggrove.com/biggrove.nsf/pages/history.
SOURCE: http://desmoinesriver.org/canoeguide/nishnabo.pdf Cemeteries Location of early burials Although it does not mention LDS burials, Field in his 1907 history locates the early burials of Big Grove in Big Grove Cemetery (11). Notes:
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Big Pigeon |
View list of community residents Location Big Pigeon was located by Pigeon Creek. (1) History In 1848, the citizens of Pottawattamie County petitioned for a post office in Kanesville, and several members of the Church who lived in Big Pigeon at some point signed the petition, namely: Jerome M. Benson, Jacob G. Bigler, Robert Campbell, Pleasant Ewell, William F. Ewell, and John Loveless. (2) “The Big Pigeon settlement was broken up in 1852, when most of the saints in Pottawattamie County went west to the Rocky Mountains.” (3) Jeremiah Bingham was the Frontier Guardian representative. (4) Big Pigeon may have become the village of Crescent. (5) Pigeon Creek Tabernacle: The pioneers salvaged some of the logs from the Kanesville Tabernacle, which they then used to build the Pigeon Creek Tabernacle. (6) “[A] log tabernacle was erected in the Big Pigeon settlement on Pigeon Creek, Pottawattamie County , Iowa , in the spring of 1849. This temporary building, 53 x 32 feet in size, was constructed of oak logs hewn on the inside, with a puncheon floor and a roof of oak lap shingles. In the center of the building on each side was an extension of about 16 x 14 feet, the ground plan thus taking the form of a Greek cross.” (7) “Two miles north, one mile east of Crescent, Iowa atop a ridge north of gravel road in vicinity of 1846-1853 LDS communities of Hazel Grove and Big Pigeon. A diligent search has not turned up any indication of where exactly the tabernacle stood. A pioneer newspaper account tells us Pigeon Creek Tabernacle was built in the form of a Greek cross, and had greater seating capacity than the Kanesville Tabernacle. A diligent survey of the neighborhood failed to turn up anyone who would admit to the existence of such a building in the neighborhood. One early report said the Kanesville Tabernacle was too small for the crowd attending the Dec 24-27, 1847 Church conference at which Brigham Young was sustained President and Prophet of the Church. Therefore, the account said, Brigham Young first was sustained President in the Pigeon Creek Tabernacle. Church Historian at the time the question came up, Leonard J. Arrington, said: One such report cannot negate many Kanesville Tabernacle reports.” (8) Residents: Jeremiah Bingham (born in Vermont ca. 1806, Blacksmith (1850 census), married Sarah Keel ( Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 956). Their children included Lucinda (b. ca. 1837), Margaret (b. ca. 1840), Jeremiah (b. ca. 1847), Abigail (b. ca. 1848), and Sarah (b. ca. April 1850). Others listed with Jeremiah on the census are Alonzo (b. ca. 1832), Lears (b. ca. 1835), Adeline (b. ca. 1837), and Amos (b. ca. 1840). Other pioneers who lived in Big Pigeon at this time (1850) were John Duncan (ca. 1785), Ann Duncan (ca. 1813), Absha Pyre (ca. 1789), and Delia Pyre (ca. 1786). Solomon McIntosh (ca. 1810), Sally McIntosh (ca. 1836), Malinda McIntosh (ca. 1843), Mary Huff (ca. 1818), Caroline Huff (ca. 1839), Jeremiah (ca. 1841), Susannah (ca. 1843), Lavina (ca. 1845), Martha (ca. 1847), and Enjene (ca. February 1850) also lived here. James Boara or Boaru (ca. 1816) and Nancy (ca. 10) were Big Pigeon residents. James McIntosh (ca. 1836), Israel Boaru (ca. 1842), Margaret (ca. 1846), and Nancy (ca. 1849) lived in Big Pigeon as well. Elizabeth Stump (ca. 1819), Joseph (ca. 1833), Jacob (ca. 1837), John (ca. 1842), and Margaret (ca. 1844) were pioneers who lived in this settlement. Polly Ewell (ca. 1817), Francis (ca. 1835), John (ca. 1838), Sarah (ca. 1841), Barbara (ca. 1844), William (ca. 1846), and Mary (ca. 1849) also lived in Big Pigeon. (9) Aaron Johnson, Jr., in his autobiography written in 1926, says that he was born 22 May 1850 “at Council Bluffs , Iowa.” (10) He may have been born at Big Pigeon, since Council Bluffs seems to have been used as a blanket term used to refer to anywhere in the Kanesville area. Notes: 1. Gail G. Holmes, Old Council Bluff(s): Mormon Developments, 1846-1853, in the Missouri and Platte River Valleys of SW Iowa & E Nebraska ( Omaha , Nebraska: Omaha Institute of Religion, 2000), 67. 2. 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), 149-193. 3. Andrew Jenson, Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Publishing Company, 1941), 860. 4. Orson Hyde, ed., Frontier Guardian, 4 April 1851. 5. Gail G. Holmes, Old Council Bluff(s): Mormon Developments, 41. 6. Richard E. Bennett, Mormons at the Missouri, Winter Quarters, 1846-1852, “And Should We Die” ( Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004), 309. 7. Jenson, Encyclopedic History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 859-860. 8. Gail G. Holmes, Old Council Bluff(s): Mormon Developments, 67-68. 9. 1850 United States Census, p. 87. 10. Aaron Johnson, Jun., Autobiography of Aaron Johnson Jr.: “A Brief Life Sketch” (Mapleton, Utah [?] : private publication, 1975), 1. |
Big Spring |
Location The name suggests proximity to more than one large natural spring, but there is nothing to prove that such is the case. History Records speak only of Mormon pioneers living in this community. The Latter-day Saints petitioned for a United States post office to be installed at Kanesville in January 1848, and six men from Big Springs branch signed the petition. (1) A remarkable story of faith and sacrifice is found in the autobiographical statement of Elizabeth “Speedy” Ellsworth Johnson. She wrote, “We (her husband, German Ellsworth, and their children, and herself) went to Winter Quarters where we remained until the spring of 1849, when we started for Utah . We arrived in Salt Lake City the 23rd of the following September. On the 9th of the next November my husband died, leaving me with seven children.” “Speedy” gave birth to her youngest child on 29 September 1849, less than a week after their arrival in Salt Lake City , and her husband died just ten days after the child was born. (2) Four of the five families for which information was found left after 1850. They were still in Iowa when the 1850 United States census was taken. By that time, however, only two families from the community still lived near each other. (3) Chauncey Carter was the bishop in January 1848 and German Ellsworth was the branch clerk at the same time.(4) Chauncey Carter also served as “clerk and checker of the Kanesville gathering place near Council Bluffs , Iowa .” (5) Notes: 1. Ward and Woods, “The ‘Tabernacle Post Office' Petition for the Saints of Kanesville, Iowa,” Mormon Historical Studies (vol. 5, no. 1), 151, 162, 163, 167, 185, 186. 2. German E. Ellsworth and Mary Smith Ellsworth, compilers, John Orval Ellsworth, Ph.D., ed., Our Ellsworth Ancestors (Utah [?]: 1956), 40. 3. United States Federal Census, 1850, 48, 105, 133. 4. Ward and Woods, “The ‘Tabernacle Post Office' Petition for the Saints of Kanesville, Iowa,” Mormon Historical Studies (vol. 5, no. 1), 151, 162, 167. 5. German E. Ellsworth and Mary Smith Ellsworth, compilers, John Orval Ellsworth, Ph.D., ed., Our Ellsworth Ancestors (Utah [?]: 1956), 39.
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Buoyo |
Location If Buoyo and Boyer are indeed the same place, then the community is “believed to have been in Crescent Township.”(1) History Who were the early residents? Known early residents include Latter-day Saint families.(2) No evidence has been found of the presence of people of other faiths Did it have other names? Yes. Buoyo later became Union Branch.(3) Were there any unique contributions or events during their stay? Six men, one youth of 16 years, and one boy of seven years, all from Buoyo Branch, signed the January 1848 petition to put a post Buoyo appears to have been a rather fluid community. In 1850, only three of the nine families known to have lived in Buoyo were When did most of the Mormons leave? The major group of Buoyo Mormons left with the David Wood Company in 1852.(5) Did the town have a Frontier Guardian representative? If so, who? No, Buoyo did not have a Frontier Guardian agent. Describe any unique community setup or buildings Apparently, there was a relationship between Rockyford, which later became Rockford, Pottawattamie County, and the Buoyo The following is a map of the location of the historic Boyer post office:
The post office was located about where the dotted line going up to Honey Creek intersects with Highway 183.(7) Notes: 1. David C. Mott, “Abandoned Towns, Villages, and Post Offices,” Annals of Iowa (Iowa City: Iowa State Historical Society, 1910-1912), 64. 2. 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), 151, 164, 170, 174, 187. Ron Watt, Iowa Branch Index, 1839-59 (place: publisher, 1991). 3. Conversation with Church Archives personnel, 07 December 2005. 4. 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), 151, 164, 170, 174, 187. 5. www.lds.org 6. 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), 151, 164, 170, 174, 187. www.lds.org. United States Federal Census, 1850. 7. http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=-10670000.4202624&Y=5050000.62310214&width= 500&height=300&gride=-10671519.4202624&gridn=5048186.62310214&srec=0&coordsys=mercator&db=&addr1 =&addr2=&addr3=&pc= &advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table=&ovtype=&keepicon=&zm=0&scale=200000&out.x=7& out.y=12. http://www.placenames.com/us/p1949683/. |
Crescent (Brownell's Grove, Little Pigeon, Farmersville) |
Location Crescent City was “About one mile east of the present railroad station and village of Crescent . It was very prosperous in 1857 and The site of Crescent City is located in Crescent Township. (2) The Illustrated Atlas of Pottawattamie County , Iowa , 1885 shows a stream or a creek running through the town, but does not History “Crescent City was laid out, platted, the streets named, a newspaper started and called the Crescent City Oracle , [business] and “Crescent City is older than the township, it having been organized in the spring of 1856. The original proprietors were Joseph E. Other early residents included “the Borens, Hardings, Butlers , Prices, Adams , McMullens, Terrys, Lapworths, Carstensens, Gail Holmes postulates that Crescent City was formerly known as Big Pigeon. (7) However, judging by portions of The Frontier Something curious about an advertisement that Henry Terry put in The Frontier Guardian himself in 1851 is that he says his “Crescent is a singular name for a township, and yet, when the facts of its location are known and understood, it is not so singular The name, “Little Pigeon,” is derived from the creek on which the settlement was situated. (15) The source of the appellation, Orson Hyde's The Frontier Guardian of 27 June 1849 refers to Little Pigeon as a settlement site for the first time. How long “Henry Smith Terry . . . WAS the FIRST child born in Crescent Township . . . “He was born in Crescent City , Iowa , on September 2, 1849. He attended public school in his native area and later enrolled Henry Smith Terry's father, Henry A. Terry, wrote the following, which appeared in The Frontier Guardian : Little Pigeon, Oct. 25, 1851. FRIEND MACKINTOSH:--Having noticed in the last number of the Guardian, an item in relation to the large growth of Respectfully yours, HENRY A. TERRY (17) When Henry A. Terry moved to Crescent City (or Little Pigeon), he opened a store there, “the second in the county.” (18) The name, “Crescent City,” was never used in The Frontier Guardian , but the representatives for The Frontier Guardian in
The city in the bottom left-hand corner is Omaha , NE. Cemeteries Crescent City Cemetery “is located just north of the intersection of G 36 and Highway 183, on the east side of the road. It is “The cemetery is on a hillside and some of it has been ‘tiered' because of the slope of the hill. It is attractive with trees and shrubs, Notes: 1. David C. Mott, “Abandoned Towns, Villages and Post Offices of Iowa ,” Annals of Iowa 18 (1): 64. 2. John H. Keatley, History of Pottawattamie County , Iowa . Containing a History from the earliest settlement to the 3. Pilger, ed., The Frontier Chronicle 4 (1): back cover. 4. Keatley, History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa ; Field and Reed, History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa from the Earliest 5. “A Closer Look at Henry Smith Terry,” The Frontier Chronicle 4 (1): 9. 6. Pearl Wilcox, Roots of the Reorganized Latter Day Saints in Southern Iowa ( Independence , Missouri : P.G. Wilcox, c1989), 7. Gail George Holmes, Old Council Bluff(s): Mormon Developments, 1846-1853, in the Missouri and Platte River Valleys of 8. “The ‘TERRY'S' of Crescent,” The Frontier Chronicle 4 (1): 7. 9. Orson Hyde, ed., The Frontier Guardian (Kanesville, Iowa), 2 October 1850, 11 July 1851, 31 October 1851, 23 January 10. Henry A. Terry, “Great Bargain! Farm for Sale. ,” The Frontier Guardian , 21 February-21 March 1851, in Myrtle Hyde, 11. Ward and Woods, “The ‘Tabernacle Post Office' Petition,” Mormon Historical Studies 5 (1): 161. 12. Terry, “War! War!! War!!!,” The Frontier Guardian , 2 May-27 June 1849, in Myrtle Hyde, Advertisements , 11. 13. Terry, “War!,” The Frontier Guardian , 2 May-27 June 1849, in Myrtle Hyde, Advertisements , 11; J. E. Johnson, “For 14. Keatley, History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa , 285, quoted in part in Marsha Pilger, “History of Crescent Township, 15. See link to research by Matt Smith. 16. “Henry Smith Terry,” The Frontier Chronicle , 9, emphasis in the original. 17. Henry A. Terry, “For the Frontier Guardian,” The Frontier Guardian , 31 October 1851, p. 2, col. 4, quoted in Myrtle 18. “The ‘TERRY'S,'” The Frontier Chronicle , 7. 19. Keatley, History of Pottawattamie County , Iowa , 286. 20. Ronald G. Watts, Iowa Branch Index, 1839-1859 (1991), 42-43; “Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847-1868: Thomas 21. Orson Hyde, The Frontier Guardian , 2 October 1850, 11 July 1851, 23 January 1852, 18 June 1852, quoted in Myrtle Hyde, 22. “Cresent Township Cemeteries, Historical Society of Pottawattamie County, Iowa,”
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Bybee's Camp (North Pigeon) |
Location According to an 1885 atlas, the area in which Bybee's Camp was situated was mostly open land, but was on the border of a large grove of trees. A stream or small creek also flowed through the vicinity, doubtless a tributary to the larger Pigeon Creek, which ran south and east of Bybee's Camp.(1) It is located “in Section 31” of Boomer Township. (2) It is located near Pigeon Creek. (3) History “The earliest note there exists of settlement in . . . [Boomer] township is that of Lee Bybee, who came in 1847, and the spot where he made his home was known far and wide as ‘Bybee's Camp' . . . and, during the winter following his arrival, about fifteen houses were erected in the same vicinity, on the north of Pigeon Creek . . . William McKeown is the only resident of Boomer Township who came there and settled in the original Bybee's Camp, when it was simply a camp, and is doubtless the oldest settler in the township for that reason.” (4) It was also known as North Pigeon. (5) A notice in the Frontier Guardian sheds a bit of light on the camp. Joseph Nicholas ran an ad from the twelfth to the twenty-sixth of December, 1851, offering a “[reward] . . . and . . . gratitude” for helping him recover a “yoke of three year old steers.” They had been missing since “the early part of October last.” (6) This same man, Joseph Nicholas, participated in the Zion 's Camp march. (7) “Reverent Kirkland CARD was born Sept. 16, 1826, at Deerfield, Portage County , Ohio . He was married to Polly CALVIN, born September 10, 1826, at Palmyra Center , in the same county. They moved from this county to Kanesville in 1850, and wintered in a cabin at ‘BYBEE'S Camp', in Pottawattamie County . In the spring of 1851 they moved to Six Mile Grove, Sec. 20. In 1859 he was appointed circuit rider on Harlan Mission, living at STICKLEY Mills.” (8) Josiah L. Deforest, who was teaching school in Bybee's Camp at the time, signed the petition for the Kanesville Tabernacle Post Office. (9) “The first birth, death and marriage in the township occurred in this camp. It is impossible now to give the names of the parties in the first birth and the first death, but the first marriage was a double one, and took place in the spring of 1848. The parties in the one instance were William McKeown and Miss Eliza Jane Hall; in the other, Ezekiel Cheeny and Miss Lucy Hardy." (10) "Ezekiel Wells Cheney, his wife, Lucy, and their infant daughter, Elliza, embarked for Utah in 1849 with the George A. Smith/Dan Jones Company." (11) The first school opened was in Bybee's Camp, in the winter of 1847-48, and the teacher, J. L. Deforest, who afterward died in Harrison County .” (12) William McKeown “married Eliza Jane Hall, May 9, 1848, who was the daughter of Joseph and Johanna (Chillis) Hall, natives of New York State and the parents of eleven children . . . Mrs. Eliza (Hall) McKeown . . . married . . . at the age of twenty-two- years . . . William erected a log cabin 14 X 14, and worked his land breaking it with oxen he had reared.” (13) “The first year or two, but little prairie was broken, because they did not have the teams, but would go where the timber was light and cut it off, then one yoke of cattle could break it. The cultivating was done with a single shovel mostly, some working a horse, others an ox. Their milling first was at the old Indian mill on the Mosquito, but, in 1849, a mill was built on Pigeon Creek in Hazel Dell Township , and then they went to it. Some stores having been opened up, their supplies soon came from Council Bluffs , but the first season they crossed the river to a settlement on the Nebraska side, where there was a store.” (14) “In two or three years [after 1847], all of these settlers sold out their claims and went onto Utah Territory with the general Mormon emigration, and finally remained there . . . What was once known as ‘Bybee's Camp' is now included in the farms owned and occupied by William McKeown, L. S. Axtell and George Drake.” (15) The Frontier Guardian representative was Joshua C. Hall. His service in such a capacity was first noted in the 2 October 1850 issue of the Frontier Guardian , and he continued is this office through 18 June 1852 at least. (16)
Go to the above site and zoom in on the map for street names. Cemeteries “ Grange Cemetery is located in Section 28, SW corner of NW ¼ in Boomer Township . It is a large, well kept active cemetery.” (17) “The Boomer Grange Society was organized May 31, 1873. Sixteen acres of ground was purchased by John Page for the cemetery. [I]t is recorded in the Pottawattamie County Register, Book 31, page 550.” (18) John Page, who bought the land for the cemetery, was a member of the RLDS branch of North Pigeon. He was baptized in the church in 1872, just the year before he helped create the cemetery. Whether or not the original settlers had been burying their dead for some decades in the plot he bought is open to research. (19) Notes: 1. Illustrated Atlas of Pottawattamie County, Iowa , 1885 , in Bob Anderson, ed., The Frontier Chronicle vol. 3, no. 4 (October-December 1997), back cover; History of Pottawattamie County , Iowa . Containing a History from the earliest settlement to the present time, embracing its topographical, geological, physical and climatic features; its agricultural, railroad interests, etc.; giving an account of its aboriginal inhabitants, early settlement by the whites, pioneer incidents, its growth, its improvements, organization of the County, the judicial history, the business and industries, churches, schools, etc.; Biographical Sketches; Portraits of some of the Early Settlers, Prominent Men, etc. (Chicago: O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, 1883), part one, 273. 2. History of Pottawattamie County , Iowa . Containing a History from the earliest settlement to the present time, embracing its topographical, geological, physical and climatic features; its agricultural, railroad interests, etc.; giving an account of its aboriginal inhabitants, early settlement by the whites, pioneer incidents, its growth, its improvements, organization of the County, the judicial history, the business and industries, churches, schools, etc.; 3. Orson Hyde, ed., Frontier Guardian (Kanesville [ Council Bluffs ], Iowa ), 12 December 1851, in Myrtle Stevens 4. History of Pottawattamie County , Iowa . part one, 273, in Anderson, ed., The Frontier Chronicle vol. 3, no. 4 5. Ronald G. Watt, Iowa Branch Index, 1839-1859 (1991), 63-64; compare with the list of pioneers traveling with the 6. Orson Hyde, ed., Frontier Guardian , 12 December 1851, in Myrtle Stevens Hyde, Kanesville Advertisements , 137. 7. History of the Church 2:183 8. H. H. McKenney, Pioneer History of Harris Grove, 1851-1861 (Democrat Print, 1923), 39-40, in http://www.rootsweb.com/~iaharris/bio/harrisgrove/hgbio05.htm . 9. Maurine Carr Ward and Fred E. Woods, “The ‘Tabernacle Post Office' Petition for the Saints of Kanesville , Iowa ,” Mormon 10. History of Pottawattamie County , Iowa . Containing a History from the earliest settlement to the present time, 11. www.lds.org/churchhistory/ 12. History of Pottawattamie County , Iowa. part one, 273-274. 13. History of Pottawattamie County (1891), in Anderson , ed., The Frontier Chronicle vol. 3, no. 4 (October-December 14. History of Pottawattamie County , Iowa . part one, 79. 15. History of Pottawattamie County , Iowa . part one, 273. 16. Orson Hyde, ed., Frontier Guardian (Kanesville [Council Bluffs], Iowa), 2 October 1850, 4 April 1851, 11 July 1851, 23 17. http://www.rootsweb.com/~iapottaw/CemGrange.htm . 18. Ibid. 19. Membership list of the North Pigeon Branch, http://iagenweb.org/pottawattamie/hist-RLDS-northpigeon.htm .
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Cooley's Camp |
Location Considering the name, “Cooley's Mill,” the site probably did border on or include a creek or some sort of running water in order to provide waterpower for the mill. History The Frontier Guardian mentions Cooley's Mill as early as 13 June 1849, so it had been established by then, at least. (1) Since John Cooley is listed on the United State Federal Census of 1850 as a miller by occupation, the settlement was obviously named after his establishment, though I found no record of the mill itself. (2) John William Cooley captained a pioneer company that went to the Salt Lake Valley in 1853. How many of this company had lived in Cooley's Mill is open to further research, but certainly Brother Cooley and William Clinger, who lived with Brother Cooley and his family went to Utah in this company. (3) J. W. Cooley was the Frontier Guardian representative from October 1850 through June 1852, and perhaps longer, since he did not leave for the Salt Lake Valley until 1853. (4) Cemeteries Three members of the Gould family died in Cooley's Mill, but I have found no record of a cemetery at Cooley's Mill. The people known to have died at Cooley's Mill are the following: “Gould, John Sr., 9 May 1851, at Cooley's Mill, 43 years old (Frontier Guardian, 13 June 1851). “Gould, John Jr., son of John and Aby Gould, January 1850, at Cooley's Mill, 15 months and 10 days (Frontier Guardian, 13 June 1851). “Gould, Magor G., son of John and Aby Gould, 9 February 1850, at Cooley's Mill, 14 years old (Frontier Guardian, 14 June 1851).” (5) Notes: 1. Orson Hyde, ed., The Frontier Guardian (Kanesville, now Council Bluffs, Iowa), 13 June 1849, quoted in Myrtle Stevens Hyde, Kanesville Conditions (Ogden, Utah: Myrtle Stevens Hyde, 1997), 19. 2. Orson Hyde, ed., The Frontier Guardian (Kanesville, now Council Bluffs, Iowa), 13 June 1849, quoted in Myrtle Stevens Hyde, Kanesville Conditions (Ogden, Utah: Myrtle Stevens Hyde, 1997), 89. 3. Http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneerdetails/0,15791,4018-1-13044,00.html ; http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneercompanysearchresults/1,15792,4017-1-205,00.html . 4. Orson Hyde, ed., The Frontier Guardian , 4 April 1851, microfilm #298 reel 21, item 4, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Provo, Utah; Orson Hyde, ed., The Frontier Guardian , 2 October 1850 and 18 June 1852, quoted in Myrtle Stevens Hyde, Kanesville Conditions (Ogden, Utah: Myrtle Stevens Hyde, 1997), 59, 105. 5. Orson Hyde, ed., The Frontier Guardian , 13 and 14 June 1851, quoted in Lyndon W. Cook, Death and Marriage Notices from the Frontier Guardian 1849-1852 (Orem, Utah: Center for Research of Mormon Origins, c1990), 9. |
Deseret |
Location Bluffs and flatland made up the area around Deseret (1). “Prior to 1853, the county was simply divided into election precincts and had no distinctive township organization and administration.” So, during most—or perhaps all—of the time the Saints lived in Deseret, the village was not located in a township. However, on 12 February 1853, Rocky Ford Township was created, along with Kane and Macedonia Townships. The name, “Rocky Ford,” was later shortened to Rockford (2). It was in this township that Deseret had been established. Deseret Post Office was “Established February 27, 1854, [with] Samuel Kirkland [as postmaster, and it was] . . . discontinued March 23, 1855” (3). It was located near Beebeetown (4). For an aerial photograph of the area in which Deseret was situated, go to the following link: http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=13&Z=15&X=162&Y=2873&W=1. For a road map of the area, go to this link: http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=decimal&latitude=41.50111&longitude=-95.86722&zoom=7 (6). Deseret Post Office was “About 2 ½ miles northeast of Loveland, 5 miles southeast of Missouri Valley” (7). Notes: 1. One can work out the terrain by looking at a modern aerial photo of the area and coordinating the photo with a road map showing the location of the old post office. The photograph and map referred to may be found at the following two sites: the aerial photo--http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=13&Z=15&X=162&Y=2873&W=1; the road map--http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=decimal&latitude=41.50111&longitude=-95.86722&zoom=7. 2. John H. Keatley, History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Containing a History from the earliest settlement to the present time, embracing its topographical, geological, physical and climatic features; its agricultural, railroad interests, etc.; giving an account of its aboriginal inhabitants, early settlement by the whites, pioneer incidents, its growth, its improvements, organization of the County, the judicial history, the business and industries, churches, schools, etc.; Biographical Sketches; Portraits of some of the Early Settlers, Prominent Men, etc. (Chicago: O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, 1883), 276. 3. Guy Reed Ramsey, A List of Discontinued and Renamed Post Offices (Crete, Nebraska: J-B Publishing Company, 1976), 372. 4. “ Pottawattamie County, Iowa: Pottawattamie County, Iowa Post Offices,” http://www.hometownlocator.com/DisplayCountyFeatures.cfm?FeatureType=post%20office&SCFIPS=19155. 5. Orson Hyde, ed., The Frontier Guardian (Kanesville, Iowa), 2 October 1850, 4 April 1851, 23 January 1852, the first and last dates in Myrtle Stevens Hyde, Kanesville Conditions (Ogden, Utah: Myrtle Stevens Hyde), 58-59, 95; Jacob Dawson, ed., The Frontier Guardian and Iowa Sentinel (Kanesville/Council Bluffs, Iowa), 18 June 1852, 11 November 1852, in Myrtle Hyde, Conditions, 105, 110. 6. The author found these two links at the following site on the World Wide Web: http://www.hometownlocator.com/DisplayCountyFeatures.cfm?FeatureType=post%20office&SCFIPS=19155. 7. Ramsey, A List of Discontinued and Renamed Post Offices, 372. |
Ferryville |
Location It is located in present-day Crescent Township.(1) Any unique features such as located by a creek, river, etc. Ferryville was ten miles north of Kanesville, by the Missouri River.(2) History Who were the early residents? Early residents were largely Latter-day Saint pioneers.(3) The North Mormon Ferry, near which Ferryville was built, was established about October 1, 1846. The town probably grew up slowly around the ferry.(4) Were there any unique contributions or events during their stay? “William Player and Miss Nancy Hamer, both of Pottawatamie county, Iowa, [were married on] 24 September 1850, at Ferryville, by Thomas McKenzie. . . . “John Hamer and Miss Elizabeth Ann Wilding, [were married on] 24 September 1850, at Ferryville.”(5) Elder Orson Hyde, leader of the Latter-day Saints in Iowa, rode with a party of friends and associates from Kanesville to Ferryville for a day of celebration following the return of several of the men from Salt Lake City. “[T]hey arrived there at about 2 o’clock, P.M., and proceeded to the centre of the village.” A band played, banners flew, and the citizens of Ferryville presented their guests with dinner, a “song . . . composed for the occasion, by Mrs. Marriatt, of that place [Ferryville],” and speeches. “At 8 o’clock . . . the party started for Kanesville, where they arrived at about 11 o’clock. . . . Thus ended a day of enjoyment.”(6) Apparently, a ten-mile journey, at an easy pace, took about three hours. Ferryville seems to have been a town that, as a whole, was very faithful to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its leaders. The extent of the preparations denotes sincere admiration on the part of the citizens of Ferryville, and unfeigned happiness at having their spiritual leader restored to their presence. On 16 July 1851, a terrible storm passed through the Middle Missouri Valley, wreaking havoc on the towns of Kanesville, Council Point, and Ferryville. The “gale” blew down fences, which left fields of grain vulnerable to roaming cattle. Crops received damage directly from the squall as well. The tempest also ripped roofs off houses, which caused some to catch fire, likely because of flying sparks and coals from fireplaces exposed to the wind. Some of the families whose houses caught fire lost everything, “leaving them in a state of destitution.”(7) Nephi Ainscough, son of William Ainscough and Mary Clark, was born 17 January 1847 in Ferryville.(8) Henry Emery arrived at Ferryville about 27 May 1848. Henry farmed that spring and summer with a man by the name of Scovil, and then bought a “claim” of land from Judd Wood in the fall of the same year. On this land, Henry erected a house in which he and his parents lived until 24 March 1850. During the family’s stay at Ferryville, they went through a great trial. Elisa, Henry’s mother, “acted very ugly with” her husband, George, “endeavouring to either have him giver her a bill of divorce or turn her out of house.” In Henry’s words,
The sad story continued, Elisa continuing to mistreat George and he continuing to withstand the bad situation. Once, Elisa left George and asked him to take her back, which he did. However, she “was as bad as ever.” The branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Ferryville had become so exasperated with Elisa’s infamous treatment of George that they required him to “put her away.” Through a series of events, she went to Stephen Nixon’s house, but expressed repentance and a desire to return to George again. The leaders of the branch believed her to be sincere, so allowed George to receive her again, but she soon was back to her old ways. Eventually, they were divorced, shortly after George and Henry moved together to Kanesville.(9) Did the town have a Frontier Guardian representative, if so who? Yes, it did, beginning sometime after 13 June 1849, at which time the editors of The Frontier Guardian announced their intention to appoint an agent in Ferryville. By 2 October 1850, William Player had received the office of Frontier Guardian agent for Ferryville.(10) The July 11, 1851 issue was the first one in which the newspaper showed a switch from Mr. Player to Thomas Clark as the Frontier Guardian representative.(11) Thomas Clark remained the Frontier Guardian representative through 11 June 1852, even through the change of management and new name of the paper. Suddenly, though, in the 18 June 1852 issue, Ferryville (along with several other settlements) is omitted from the list of locales with Frontier Guardian and Iowa Sentinel agents.(12) Any unique community setup or buildings As is suggested by its name, Ferryville was near a ferry across the Missouri River. The ferry was situated a half mile up the river from the town of Ferryville. The owners appear to have been a partnership, “Smith & Barrow,” and went to considerable effort to make the ferry site as accommodating as possible. They built a “fold-yard” in which travelers could keep their livestock overnight – up to “1000 head at one time.” From March to September or October 1852, Smith & Barrow boasted in an advertisement in The Frontier Guardian that on days of good weather they could ferry “60 to 100 wagons in a day.” At the time mentioned, the company had “3 or 4 good and substantial Boats, with good bulwarks on them, which renders it as safe as a steam Ferry.” They also claimed to have “good sober and experienced hands” working their ferry boats. Smith & Barrow referred inquirers of further information concerning the ferry to Thomas Clark. His exact role in the ferry business, whether it went beyond informing potential customers of the ferry, is unclear.(13) The setup of the ferry is quite interesting. The pioneers made two ropes of local hemp, with which the pioneers spanned the river in a “V” shape. These acted as guide ropes for the ferry to follow. The vertex of the “V” was on the Iowa side of the Missouri River, and the ferry crossed from Iowa to Nebraska Territory on the lower leg of the “V.” The ferry was then hauled upstream to the point of the upper leg of the “V,” and then sent back across to the vertex of the “V” on the Iowa side of the river. “It was . . . moved [to its location near Ferryville from the Middle Mormon Ferry site] . . . approximately October 1, 1846 to facilitate movement to Winter Quarters.”(14) From the late summer to early autumn of 1851, Thomas Clark wanted to sell his farm, so he put an advertisement in The Frontier Guardian. He included a remarkable description of his farm in the advertisement, which I will include verbatim here:
From this advertisement, we see what was important to the frontier farmer: fencing, houses, land without stumps, land already broken, outbuildings and fenced areas for livestock, and logs precut for the assembly of a house.(15) Driving Directions To find the place where Ferryville was located, follow “Interstate 680 [to where it] crosses the Missouri River on twin bridges. The bridge that carries the eastbound lanes has a large sign on it: MORMON BRIDGE. . . . the bridge was constructed on nearly the exact site of the old Mormon ferry, on which thousands of westbound immigrants crossed the Missouri from 1846 until the coming of the railroads in 1869.”(16) Notes: 1. City-data.com, “Crescent township, Pottawattamie County, Iowa (IA),” http://www.city-data.com/township/Crescent-Pottawattamie-IA.html. The site says, “This data has been compiled from multiple government and commercial sources.”2. Orson Hyde, ed., The Frontier Guardian (Kanesville, Iowa), 22 August – 17 October 1851, 11 March – between 2 September and 28 October 1852, in Myrtle Stevens Hyde, Kanesville Advertisements (Ogden, Utah: Myrtle Stevens Hyde, 1993), 123, 149. 3. Henry Emery, “Autobiography,” unpublished manuscript, film 920 no. 58, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; Orson Hyde, ed., The Frontier Guardian, 11 December 1850, in Myrtle Stevens Hyde, Kanesville Conditions (Ogden, Utah: Myrtle Stevens Hyde, 1997), 63. 4. Gail George Holmes, Old Council Bluff(s): Mormon Developments, 1846-1853, in the Missouri and Platte River Valleys of SW Iowa and E Nebraska, Karen Larsen, ed. (Omaha, Nebraska: Omaha LDS Institute of Religion, 2000), 65; Douglas-Sarpy Counties Mormon Trails Association, “Ferries,” http://www.omaha.org/trails/history2.htm. The site credits C. Alden Harper with compiling “much of the material on this page,” and Gail Holmes “with historical contributions.” 5. Orson Hyde, The Frontier Guardian, 2 October 1850, in Lyndon W. Cook, Death and Marriage Notices from the Frontier Guardian, 1849-1852 ( Orem, Utah: Center for Research of Mormon Origins, c1990), 29. 6. Orson Hyde, The Frontier Guardian, 11 December 1850, in Myrtle Hyde, Conditions, 63. 7. Orson Hyde, The Frontier Guardian, 25 July 1851, in Myrtle Hyde, Conditions, 81. 8. Family Data Collection – Births Record, Ancestry.com. 9. Henry Emery, “Autobiography,” unpublished manuscript, film 920 no. 58, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. 10. Orson Hyde, The Frontier Guardian, 13 June 1849, 2 October 1850, in Myrtle Hyde, Conditions, 19, 59. 11. Orson Hyde, The Frontier Guardian, 11 July 1851, in Myrtle Hyde, Conditions, 79; see Orson Hyde, The Frontier Guardian, 16 October 1850 – 11 July 1851, in Myrtle Hyde, Conditions, 59, 61, 63, 65-68, 70-72, 74-77, 79. 12. Orson Hyde, The Frontier Guardian, 11 July 1851-18 June 1852, in Myrtle Hyde, Conditions, 79, 81-83, 85-90, 92, 93, 95-97, 99-105; I also looked at a microfilm of the actual newspaper for some of the issues, namely those of 1 April, 29 April, 20 May, 11 June, and 18 June, all in the year 1852. 13. Orson Hyde, The Frontier Guardian, 11 March – between 2 September and 28 October 1852, 149. 14. Douglas-Sarpy Counties Mormon Trails Association, “Ferries,” http://www.omaha.org/trails/history2.htm. 15. Orson Hyde, The Frontier Guardian, 22 August – 17 October 1851, in Myrtle Hyde, Advertisements, 123. 16. Conrey Bryson, Winter Quarters ( Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, c1986), 1.
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Hazel Grove |
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Honey Creek |
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Little Pigeon (See also Crescent City , Crescent Township ) |
Location Little Pigeon was located in present-day Crescent Township. (1) The Illustrated Atlas of Pottawattamie County , Iowa , 1885 shows a stream or a creek running through the town, but does not give the creek a name. (2) The name of the town on the map is Crescent City . See subheading, “ Did it have other names? ” below for an explanation. History It had been established by June of 1849. (3) The site of Little Pigeon was first occupied by Mormon pioneers. (4) Gail Holmes postulated that Crescent City was formerly known as Big Pigeon. (5) He also acknowledges, however, that a current resident of the Crescent City area, Matt Smith, believes that Crescent City was likely called Little Pigeon before it was platted and named Crescent City. (6) Judging by portions of The Frontier Guardian , and the history of Henry Algernon Terry, Little Pigeon appears to have truly been the forerunner of Crescent City . Terry “moved to Crescent” shortly after his marriage in 1848, lived there for some time, spent a brief interlude in Connecticut , and then, “In 1857, he returned to Crescent.” (7) The time he first spent in “Crescent” correlates with the time he served as The Frontier Guardian 's “agent” in Little Pigeon, as well as the time he wrote a letter from the same place, which was published in The Frontier Guardian in the 31 October 1851 number. The text of this letter is included later in this article. (8) Based on the foregoing evidence, the author of this history concluded that Crescent City was formerly known as Little Pigeon. Something curious about an advertisement that Henry Terry put in The Frontier Guardian himself in 1851 is that he says his house is at “Farmersville, on Little Pigeon, 8 miles North of Kanesville.” (9) The only other reference to Farmersville the author of this article found is in Maurine Carr Ward and Fred E. Woods's article, “The ‘Tabernacle Post Office' Petition for the Saints of Kanesville, Iowa,” in the quarterly journal, Mormon Historical Studies . Their article listed just one man and two boys from Farmersville: Horace Burgess, who was the bishop there, according to Ward and Woods, and his two sons, ages nine and eleven. (10) (One can safely presume that they also lived in Farmersville with their father, though the article does not explicitly say so.) Henry Terry bought “the old stand of HORACE BURGESS” in 1849, and ran a store there. (11) Furthermore, in 1852-53, when J. E. Johnson was selling “the Terry place.” Johnson had printed in the advertisement that the place was “convenient for a store and public housestand.” (12) Johnson probably made this assertion based on experience. By the evidence given above, Farmersville was almost certainly another name for Little Pigeon. The town got its name from the creek that runs through the area (which was once known as Little Pigeon Creek). (13) Orson Hyde's The Frontier Guardian of 27 June 1849 refers to Little Pigeon as a settlement site implicitly for the first time. How long before this date people had been living there is uncertain. A handful of Little Pigeon saints signed the Kanesville Tabernacle Post Office Petition. Their names were William Pulsipher, Parley P. Sirrine, Theodore Sirrine, John Smith, William Smith, Alexander L. Tuttle, Azariah Tuttle, and Hascall Waterbury. (14) “James Clemons and Miss Sarah Wilson , both of Pottawatamie county, Iowa , [were married] 8 January 1852, at Little Pigeon Branch, by Thomas C. D. Howell. ( Frontier Guardian , 23 January 1852)” (15) “John Barnes and Miss Elner Wilson, both of Pottawatamie county, Iowa , [were married] 18 March 1852, at Little Pigeon Branch, by Thomas C. D. Howell. ( Frontier Guardian , 25 March 1852)” (16) A new road was proposed that would run “from the prairie south of Carterville, through the latter place, passing through or near Kanesville and extending up the Tabernacle hollow to Little and Big Pigeon.” A committee of men from each location through which the road was to pass was formed to oversee the project. “This [was] destined to be one of the great thoroughfares threw this county.” (17) A man known as H. A. Terry was a prominent citizen of Little Pigeon. In the 2 October 1850 number of The Frontier Guardian , the publishers thanked him for giving them “home-made wine.” (18) He also contributed the following letter to The Frontier Guardian : Little Pigeon, Oct. 25, 1851. FRIEND MACKINTOSH:--Having noticed in the last number of the Guardian, an item in relation to the large growth of vegetables. Allow me to give you a brief account of some of the productions of my own Garden. I raised a Tomato Vine this season which was so productive that I had the curiosity to count the tomatos on it, which amounted to the snug little number of two thousand two hundred and sixty tomatos. I have also raised a Squash Vine, which bore one hundred and four squashes, the Vine measured two hundred and forty-two feet in length. I have also raised some turnips, which I think are hard to beat, one of which measures twelve and a half inches round, and weighs six and a half pounds. My carrots yielded at the rate of one thousand six hundred and eighty bushels to the acre. Now if this is not an indication of a great country, then I am at a loss to know what is. Respectfully yours, HENRY A. TERRY (19) On 27 June of the same year, the publishers of The Frontier Guardian acknowledged Mr. Terry's gift of “Pure Lemon Syrup . . . the best [they] have ever tasted . . . [it made] a good, cool, and wholesome summer drink, when diluted with good clear cold water.” (20) Elder Benson scheduled a visit to the community of Little Pigeon at three o'clock in the afternoon on Sunday, 7 December 1851. The announcement in The Frontier Guardian that divulged this information did not tell the purpose of the visit. (21) Interestingly, Henry A. Terry put his house on the market, advertising its sale for a month, from 21 February to 21 March 1851. He indicated that he “intends emigrating to the Salt Lake in the Spring, . . . [and] will sell his place very low.” (22) He must have sold it, or entrusted it to J. E. Johnson, because later, from 1 December 1852 to sometime between 14 September and 21 December 1853, J. E. Johnson listed, “For Sale. The farm, claim and improvements, on Little Pigeon, known as the Terry place.” (23) Oddly, though, the author of this study found no record of Terry crossing the plains, nor does the brief history of Henry Terry's life in the Pottawattamie County Historical Society's quarterly, The Frontier Chronicle , mention him traveling west. To the contrary, the history says he traveled east to Connecticut for a time before returning to Kanesville, and in 1857 moving to Crescent City . The article further states that Terry stayed in Pottawattamie County for the rest of his life and became a famous “horticulturalist.” (24) Further research may produce the cause of Terry's change of heart about moving to Utah. The vast majority of the citizens of Little Pigeon left for Utah in a single wagon train: the Thomas C. D. Howell Company of 1852. (25) The representatives for The Frontier Guardian in town were Henry A. Terry—who also was “appointed . . . as our [ The Frontier Guardian 's] travelling agent for the paper in this county [Pottawattamie]”—and I. J. Clark. (26) “The Subscriber having purchased the old stand of HORACE BURGESS, situated on Little Pigeon, is now prepared to sell goods in his line: such as dry goods, groceries, &c., a little cheaper than they are sold at any other place in the upper country. Of course, he claims a share of the patronage of a liberal public. “HENRY A. TERRY.” (27) Henry Terry also ran an advertisement in The Frontier Guardian from 28 November to 26 December 1849 asking for “any quantity of Otter, Beaver, Wolf, Wildcat, Raccoon, Mink, and Deer Skins, for which the highest price will be paid. Also dry hides taken in exchange for goods.” (28)
The city in the bottom left-hand corner is Omaha , NE. Cemeteries Crescent City Cemetery “is located just north of the intersection of G 36 and Highway 183, on the east side of the road. It is marked with a small sign at the entrance. Section ‘F' seems to be the oldest part of the cemetery, with burials dated 1864, 1866, 1867 & 1869. It is said some of the oldest are of Mormons traveling through to Utah . “The cemetery is on a hillside and some of it has been ‘tiered' because of the slope of the hill. It is attractive with trees and shrubs, is well kept and an active cemetery.” (29) Judging by portions of The Frontier Guardian , and the history of Henry Algernon Terry, the community of Little Pigeon was the forerunner of Crescent City . Terry “moved to Crescent” shortly after his marriage in 1848, lived there for some time, spent a brief interlude in Connecticut, and then returned to Crescent by 1857 [“The ‘TERRY'S' of Crescent,” The Frontier Chronicle 4 (1), 7.] The time he spent in “Crescent” correlates with the time he served as The Frontier Guardian 's “agent” in Little Pigeon, as well as the time he wrote a letter published in The Frontier Guardian , the text of which is included later in this article [Orson Hyde, ed., The Frontier Guardian (Kanesville, now Council Bluffs, Iowa), 2 October 1850, 11 July 1851, 31 October 1851, 23 January 1852, 18 June 1852, quoted in Myrtle Stevens Hyde, Kanesville Conditions (Ogden, Utah: Myrtle Stevens Hyde, 1997), 59, 79, 88, 95, 105.] Notes: 1. The Frontier Chronicle 4 (1): back cover. 2. Orson Hyde, The Frontier Guardian , 27 June 1849, quoted in Myrtle Hyde, Conditions , 19-20. 3. History of Pottawattamie County , Iowa . Containing a History from the earliest settlement to the present time, embracing its topographical, geological, physical and climatic features; its agricultural, railroad interests, etc.; giving an account of its aboriginal inhabitants, early settlement by the whites, pioneer incidents, its growth, its improvements, organization of the County, the judicial history, the business and industries, churches, schools, etc.; Biographical Sketches; Portraits of some of the Early Settlers, Prominent Men, etc. (Chicago: O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, 1883), 286; http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneercompanysearchresults/1,15792,4017-1-161,00.html ; Ronald G. Watt, Iowa Branch Index, 1839-1859 ( place: publisher, 1991), page # . 4. Holmes, Old Council Bluff(s) , 41. 5. Gail Holmes, “BYU Research Team Study in Middle Missouri Valley 6-9/05: Suggested, subject to discussion and revision, tours and studies outlined for Monday through Thursday June 6-9, 2005,” 10, Winter Quarters Project Archives, John A. Widtsoe Building, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. 6. “The ‘TERRY'S' of Crescent,” The Frontier Chronicle , 4 (1): 7. 7. Orson Hyde, The Frontier Guardian , 2 October 1850, 11 July 1851, 31 October 1851, 23 January 1852, 18 June 1852, quoted in Myrtle Hyde, Conditions , 59, 79, 88, 95, 105. 8. Henry A. Terry, “Great Bargain! Farm for Sale. ,” The Frontier Guardian , 21 February-21 March 1851, in Myrtle Hyde, Advertisements , 89. 9. Ward and Woods, “The ‘Tabernacle Post Office' Petition,” Mormon Historical Studies 5 (1): 161. 10. Terry, “War! War!! War!!!,” The Frontier Guardian , 2 May-27 June 1849, in Myrtle Hyde, Advertisements , 11. 11. Terry, “War!,” The Frontier Guardian , 2 May-27 June 1849, in Myrtle Hyde, Advertisements , 11; J. E. Johnson, “For Sale. ,” The Frontier Guardian , 1 December 1852-14 September/21 December 1853, in Myrtle Hyde, Advertisements , 220. 12. See link to Matt Smith's research. 13. Maurine Carr Ward and Fred E. Woods, “The ‘Tabernacle Post Office' Petition for the Saints of Kanesville , Iowa ,” Mormon Historical Studies 5, (1): 183, 185,186, 189,190. 14. Lyndon W. Cook, comp., Death and Marriage Notices from the Frontier Guardian , 1849-1852 ( Orem , Utah : Center for Research of Mormon Origins, c1990), 37; Myrtle Hyde, Conditions , 96. 15. Cook, Death and Marriage Notices , 38; Myrtle Hyde, Conditions , 100. 16. Orson Hyde, ed., Frontier Guardian , 27 June 1849, quoted in Hyde, Conditions , 20. 17. Myrtle Hyde, Conditions , 58. 18. Henry A. Terry, “For the Frontier Guardian,” The Frontier Guardian , 31 October 1851, in Myrtle Hyde, Conditions, 88. 19. Myrtle Hyde, Conditions , 78. 20. Orson Hyde, ed., The Frontier Guardian , 28 November 1851, quoted in Myrtle Hyde, Conditions , 90. 21. “Great Bargain! Farm for Sale .,” Orson Hyde, The Frontier Guardian , 21 February-21 March 1851, in Myrtle Hyde, Advertisements , 89. 22. J. E. Johnson, “For Sale ,” The Frontier Guardian , in Myrtle Hyde, Advertisements , 220. 23. See “Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847-1868: Search,” http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneercompanysearch/ ; “The ‘TERRY'S' of Crescent,” The Frontier Chronicle 4 (1), 7-8. 24. “Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847-1868: Thomas C. D. Howell Company (1852),” http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneercompanysearchresults/1,15792,4017-1-161,00.html . 25. Orson Hyde, Frontier Guardian , 2 October 1850, 13 November 1850, 22 January 1851, 11 July 1851, 23 January 1852, 18 June 1852, quoted in Hyde, Conditions , 59, 61, 65, 79, 95, 105; Orson Hyde, The Frontier Guardian , 4 April 1851. See also Ronald G. Watts, Iowa Branch Index, 1839-1859 (1991), 42-43. 26. Terry, “War!,” The Frontier Guardian , 2 May-27 June 1849, in Myrtle Hyde, Advertisements , 11. 27. “Wanted,” in Myrtle Hyde, Advertisements , 29. 28. “Cresent Township Cemeteries, Historical Society of Pottawattamie County, Iowa,” http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/5660/crescent.htm . |
Macedonia |
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Image Source: Frontier Chronicle, Pottawattamie County Genealogical Society The town of Macedonia, Iowa is located in present-day Macedonia Township, Pottawattamie County. "The first settler in what was then a lonely region, and remote from other settlements, was Thomas Jefferson Ring, who arrived "Jacob Myers came from Ohio early and built a saw-mill in 1848. Next came a man by the name of Tuttle, but he subsequently In 1849, Mormons who spent the winter in the area named it Macedonia. (2) Many of the Mormon settlers had previously lived in a
Image Source: Frontier Chronicle, Pottawattamie County Genealogical Society The original town survey read as follows: "Macedonia Township "T.74 N R.40 W "The exterior survey was made in August 1851 by [illegible letter or word] the [illegible name] Deputy Surveyor, who had finished the “'This Township is composed of rolling surface in many places approaching ills with second rate soil. We adapted to agriculture. "The water of the interior survey mention a limestone quarry in Sections 14 and 23. Of course, Mr. Cassidy would be surprised to
Image Source: "Macedonia Business District," Copyright © IAGenWeb 2002 IAGENWEB-POTTAWATTAMIE CO., IOWA "Macedonia Township was created on February 12, 1853, when Pottawattamie County was divided into townships. . . . In 1850, "A grist mill was built in 1848, but washed away soon after construction. A saw mill was erected in 1851, followed by another grist "J. B. Stutsman opened a store in Macedonia township in 1851, and a blacksmith shop started by Henry Adams in 1852 continued "A few years later, Maj. Joseph Lyman, of Council Bluffs, opened the first school in the vicinity, and within a few years the small Deaths and Cemeteries The following death information is taken from Death and Marriage Notices from the Frontier Guardian 1849-1852 compiled by Macedonia Camp Hanbury, John, 13 September 1851, at Macedonia Camp, 36 years old. (6) Macedonia Cemetery The cemetery is located one mile east of Macedonia , on Iowa Highway 362, about three quarters of a mile west of Iowa Highway Pioneer " Old Town " Cemetery The cemetery is located two miles northwest of Macedonia . This cemetery was named Pioneer but is better known locally as " Old Mormon Cemetery (Carson, Grove Township)
Pioneer Cemetery (a.k.a. Old Town Cemetery ) Iowa Mormon Trails Old Town Cemetery is located in Section 21, Macedonia Township , two miles northwest of Macedonia . This cemetery was To reach Old Town Cemetery , drive east out of Macedonia . After crossing the Nishnabotna River , take the first right turn. The Some people interred here were moved to the Carson and Macedonia cemeteries, along with the stones erected at their site. There is a grass drive down the middle of the cemetery. When read, it was divided into north and south sections. It was read left Present-day Macedonia Facts Macedonia is a city located in Pottawattamie County, Iowa . As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 325. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 0.9 km² (0.3 mi² ). 0.9 km² (0.3 mi²) of it is land and As of the census of 2000 , there are 325 people, 130 households, and 86 families residing in the city. (10) Notes: 1. Pottawattamie County Genealogical Society, The Frontier Chronicle: The History of Macedonia Township Pottawattamie 2. History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, 216-217 3. Susan Sessions Rugh, Our Common Country: Family Farming, Culture, and Community in the Nineteenth-Century 4. Pottawattamie County Iowa: A Collection of HIstorical Sketches and Family Histories (Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company, 5. Pottawattamie County Genealogical Society, The Frontier Chronicle, 2. 6. Frontier Guardian, 19 September 1851. 7. Historical Society of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/5660/macedoni.htm 8. http://iagenweb.org/pottawattamie/cem-mormon.htm |
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Mt. Scott |
The following is from the Annals of Iowa, July 1921 and helps put the location of Mt. Scott into context with the other early settlements: "A NEW FERRY ACROSS THE MISSOURI RIVER "The subscribers have obtained from the General Assembly of the State of Iowa, a charter to keep a Ferry across the Missouri River at Council Bluffs, and a permit from the Indian Agent at Council Bluffs Agency, to land in the Indian Territory, are prepared with new and safe boats and tried watermen, to attend faithfully to the duties of said Ferry. For those going to Oregon or California, this is decidedly the best crossing place. Aside from being over three hundred miles nearer than by Independence, it save the difficult and dangerous crossings of the two forks of Kansas River, the Platt River and several others, and ensures the protection of the U. S. Troops as well as the Agency of the Ottoes, Omahas and Pawnees being at the Bluffs. "The roads to this Ferry from the various crossings on the Mississippi through the interior of Iowa are good, well supplied with wood and water, and every other article needed by the emigrant, and at St. Francis and Council Bluffs, all articles of food, furniture, &c., that will be needed in crossing the mountain, can be had on reasonable terms, as well as good and experienced guides and mountaineers; in fact it is designed to be prepared with all such articles as the traveler may need to add to his comfort and safety. "Those who wish to spend the winter here in order to cross the mountains early, can find abundance of all they require for themselves and teams. This Ferry being on the direct line from Chicago to the South Pass, gives it a decided advantage over the old route. North of the Iowa should pass through Iowa City, via Trading House, 25 miles, Snook's Grove, 24 miles; Newton, 34 miles; this is the county seat of Jasper county; to Ft. Desmoine (Racoon Forks), 30 miles; here goods and stores of every kind can be had on fair terms.--from this place the road is the best of any in the State. To Brown's ford on North river, 18 miles; Happy grove, 6 miles, to Marvin's grove, 6 miles; to Tucker's grove 10 miles (2 miles off the road) to Allen's 9 miles, at the bridge across Middle river; to east fork of the Nodaway, 13 miles, good for-to west fork of the Nodaway, Campbell's grove, 15 miles, strong bridged--plenty of timber; to east fork of the Nisabotony, 12 miles. Ferrin's Ferry at the old Indian village. Here the northern road intersects the Mormon trail; to Mount Scott, 17 miles to west fork. 5 miles; to Silver Creek, 10 miles; to Keg creek, 6 miles; here till road forks, the right hand leads to Kanesville, the principal Mormon town, the left to St. Francis opposite Council Bluffs Agency in Nebraska Territory." (1) The following death was recorded in the 2 October 1850 edition of the Frontier Guardian newspaper: "Burrows, David, 7 September 1850, near Mount Scott, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, of billious fever, 48 years old." (2) Notes: 1. "Iowa History Project," Annals of Iowa 13, no. 1 (Iowa City): July 1921. 2. Frontier Guardian (2 October 1850). |
Pigeon Creek |
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Pigeon Grove |
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Pleasant Grove |
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Rockford |
Shirt's Camp |
Very little information is available about Shirt's Camp in Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Ron Watts's LDS Branch Records, 1839-1859 did include a "Shirt's Branch" record, however. Click here to view the branch record. |
Silver Creek |
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Walnut Grove |
Very little information is available about Walnut Grove; however, the following advertisement appears in the August 21, 1850 issue of the Frontier Guardian: "STRAYED, "From Walnut Grove, 1 mile from Ferryville, one light red cow, with a short tail, rather lame in one of her hind legs. Whoever will |