THE HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY, IOWA, CONTAINING A History of the County, its Cities, Gowns, &c., A Biographical Directory of its Citizens, War Record of its Vol- tory of the Northwest, History of Iowa, Map of Linn County, Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Matters, &c. ILLUSTRATED. CHICAGO: WESTERN HISTORICAL COMPANY, 1878. DIEM AOKK THEN W YORK 226014 ASTOR, LENOX AND Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by Pulver PageMoyne PRINTERS PREFACE. THE historian who delves among the records of the far past, and weaves in continuous thread the story of former generations, for the instruction of ages yet to come, must be governed in the methods of his work by one invariable rule, which is the acceptance of such facts, and only such, as have become established, either by written evidence or by undoubted verbal testimony transmitted in consecutive order and bearing on its face the impress of truthfulness, from its consistency with known facts. The historian who writes of the near past finds, oftentimes, more delicate questions arising for him to decide than does the contemporary of the musty pages. While the latter has but his own sense of consentaneousness to satisfy, the former has a wider constituency to win over to his mode of thinking. The writer upon ancient events is stimulated to careful research by the hope of discovering that which will subvert the theories of his collaborators, and vindicate his own claim to literary fame. The man who treats of the early deeds of a generation yet living can have no such ambition. His duty is to tell the tale in a simple manner, leaving to those who shall come after him the more agreeable task of embellishment. The historian has endeavored to adhere to the rules which should govern all volumes of this class. Rumors have been given only as such; traditions find their appropriate place, and assumptions are treated with lightest stroke. Indisputable facts, based upon definite dates and corroborated by testimony admissible in courts of justice, alone stand recorded as facts. Herein lies the greatest danger: the impartial observance of this rule plays havoc with individual claims in more than one instance. It is just to ourselves that we say: We have been actuated by no motives but the highest in the discharge of our duty. If statements made within these pages conflict with personal assertions, let it be remembered by the critic that majority judgment has, in every case, prevailed with us on all disputed points. We do not expect |