History of Fayette County, Iowa

Excerpts from the "The History of Iowa", by Benjamin F. Gue. Copyright 1903
Transcribed by Sue Soden .

Copyright © 1998 by Sue Soden.

************************************************************************
USGENWEB NOTICE:  These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in
any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or
persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material,
must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal
representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb
archivist with proof of this consent.
************************************************************************

FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA
1837 created
1850 organized
COUNTY SEAT: West Union
PARENT COUNTY: Clayton

Fayette County, as originally established in December, 1837, was the
largest county in the United States. It extended to the British Dominions
on the north and from the Mississippi River west to the White Earth, thus
embracing nearly all of the present State of Minnesota and all of the
Dakotas east of the Missouri and White Earth Rivers, making a total of of
nearly 140,000 square miles. In 1847 the county was reduced to its present
boundaries, lying directly west of Clayton and north of Buchanan. It
contains twenty townships embracing an area of seven hundred twenty square
miles and was named for the Marquis de Lafayette.

An Indian trader named George Culver was the first white man to build a
cabin in the county in the spring of 1841, Illyria township. In 1842 Andrew
Hensley came to Fairfield township where he settled with his family. Other
families soon after located in various parts of the county. In 1850 it was
organized by the election of the following officers: Thomas Woodle, judge;
J.W. Neff, sheriff; J.A. Cook, treasurer, and William Wells, Charles Sawyer
and Jared Taylor, commissioners. Judge Thomas S. Wilson held the first term
of court in July, 1852, at West Union. This town was laid out in the fall
of 1849 by William Wells, J.W. Rogers and Jacob L. Brand. The first house
was built by J.W. Rogers the same year. In 1850 a post-office was secured
and Mr. Rogers was appointed postmaster. A store was opened by Daniel Cook
and a log school-house was built in which a school was opened by J.S.
Pence. In 1851 West Union was made the county-seat by a vote of the people.
In 1853 an effort was made to move the county-seat but at an election a
majority decided it should remain at West Union. On the 21st of October
John Gharky issued the first number of a weekly newspaper named Fayette
County Pioneer

The first settler on the site of the town of Fayette was a man by the name
of Mullican who took a claim in 1846 and sold it in 1849 to Robert
Alexander. In 1850-51 a settlement was made a mile west of the Alexander
farm where a town was laid out and named Westfield by Robert Alexander who
had sold the Mullican place. In 1856 Samuel H. Robertson who owned the
Mullican farm laid out a town upon it which he named Fayette. For several
years there was sharp rivalry between the two towns but eventually Fayette
became the larger and the Upper Iowa University was located there.

The first settlement at Clermont was made in the spring of 1849 by Andrew
Moats. John Thompson purchased large tracts of land on each side of the
Turkey River as soon as they came into market and laid out a town which he
named Norway, afterwards changed to Clermont. In 1872 the Burlington and
Cedar Rapids Railroad was built into the county.

************************************************************************
USGENWEB NOTICE:  These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in
any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or
persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material,
must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal
representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb
archivist with proof of this consent.
************************************************************************