High land history and early settlers of Highland township
Highland township emerged from Iowa in 1854 after early settlement by John Clark Ahira Liming and others starting in 1840 41. First church services were held in the 1840s as families like Forbes McGruder and Brewer settled near Grove Creek. Posts like Davis Creek and Dairy formed, Harrisburg failed after John Burris’s boom. Baptist and Methodist churches followed with structures built by 1868 1870 and the Hast Prairie schoolhouse repurposed as a church.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Highland Township
Iowa Township
John Clark
Kirtz
John Forbes
Grove Creek
Mr. Forbes
F. R. S. Byrd
United Brethren Church
Isaac McGruder
Willian Wallace
Moses Lane
John A. Brewer
Amos Brewer
Solomon Albaugh
D. C. Smelser
HE. W. Marshall
J. F. Litsey
Lot Owen
John Tompkins
John Parks
Elizabeth Wallace
Eli Wallace
Margaret McGruder
John Hayden
Iowa
J. Ray
E. Supple
Caleb Marston
Davis Creek
C. G. Maynard
R. Prettyman
White Ash
John Tomkins
John and Catharine Tomkins
Emmerson
Harrisburg
Kentucky
John Burris
Burris
Davis Creek Baptist
D. Rice
A. Owens
J. Lettry
J. Little
W. Owens
F. Green
D.owens
Mary l Lettry
Nancy Green
Eliza Marston
Jane ‘Rice
Mary B. Green
Mary &. Little
Sarah T. Marsh
Margaret B. Owens
East Prairie M. BE
Killed by the Cars Near Keota and West Chester
John Vincent his wife and Mr Gilmer were struck by a freight train while crossing near Keota and West Chester in the 1870s. The engineer warned twice but the wagon was hit and smashed. Mrs Vincent died and the two men were badly injured, Vincent an early county settler from 1842.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John Vincent
Gilmer
Keota
West Chester
County
Iowa
Indigenous Names Shape Iowa Heritage Meaning of Iowa
Indian Chiefs Black Hawk Keokuk Poweshiek Wapello Appanoose and Mahaska are cited as names familiar to Iowans. The word Iowa is said to be an Indian name meaning This Is The Place. The note emphasizes enduring ties between Native leaders and Iowa geography.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Black Hawk
Keokuk
Poweshiek
Wapello
Appanoose
Mahaska
English River Township Settled Early in County History
English River was among the first townships settled in the northern county, largely by Ohio and Indiana emigrants. It formed as a precinct in 1839 1840, reorganized as a township in 1845, with early settlers including Cyrus Cox, Stephen Bunker, and George O Loughlin. First land transfers, marriages, births, and schools dated from 1839 1842, while land claims led to jumps fights and costly suits before surveying.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
English River
Ohio
Indiana
Englih River
Wich
English River Township
Cyrus Cox
Michigan
Stephen Bunker
Johnathan Bunker
George O’loughlin
Addison Williams
New York
David Bunker
S. B. Cooper
B. Creswell
Illinois
Paddy Connely
Ireland
Gideon Bear
Wm. Shaw
Daniel Bunker
John
Joel Tyley
Johun Williams
Joseph Hamilton
Protestant Methodist Church
Hamilton
Wm. Wright
Snake Hollow
Allen Thompson
Thompson
Honeylish River
Jonathan Bunker
Three Quarter Century Back Club Formed in 1934
The Evening Journal created a Three Quarter Century Club for residents aged 75 or older. No dues or initiation fees exist. The social group gathers in Washington County for annual dinners, reminiscences, and a brief program followed by visiting. Membership exceeds two hundred with about one hundred fifty attending last year.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
The
Evening Journal
Washington County
Washington county renamed from Slaughter in 1839
Washington county, initially called Slaughter county in honor of territorial secretary William Bb. Slaughter, faced broad discontent and was officially renamed Washington on January 25, 1839.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington County
Slaughter County
William Bb. Slaughter
Washington
Old Landmarks Blown Away By Storm
Sunset district west of Crawfordsville suffered major losses from the September 21, 1931 tornado. The Sunset school, moved to the Deam Cherryholmes farm, and the Ferguson homestead were destroyed. A log cabin and the oldest house near P. P. Graber’s home partly survive, while the Tennessee and Sunset schools burned or moved before the final Sunset school, atop a hill, was destroyed in the 1931 twister.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Clarence Hering
Sunset District
Crawfordsville
Sunset
Deam
Ferguson
Cherryholmes
P. Pp. Graber
Tommy Ferguson
Earl’ Ferguson
Rob Ferguson
John Ferguson
P. P. Graber
George Johnston
Missouri
Altho
Johnston
Ann Cunningham Forrest
Los Angeles
Calif
John Cunningham
Longest furrow on record tied to Iowa City to Dubuque drive
Records show Ly Man Dillon hired by Iowa citizens to plow a furrow one hundred miles long from Iowa City to Dubuque. The project aimed to map routes and aid settlers. before this effort many travelers became lost on the open prairie.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Iowa
Ly- Man Dillon
Iowa City
Dubuque
Also Mentioned on This Page
Highland
Iowa Two
A. JD. Liming
Marion
James Burch
Goose Creek
Richmond
John Ashworth
Bunker-Randall
Mary Randall
C. D. Gillam
Tennessee
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!