Guthrie County IA Archives History - Books .....1850-1860 1932 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ia/iafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 5, 2007, 11:51 pm Book Title: A Record Guthrie Center, Iowa, U. S. A. THE following is written of the town of Guthrie Center, Iowa, covering the last five decades of the nineteenth century. It will naturally fall into four installments as follows: The Fifties and Sixties, the First. The Seventies, the Second. The Eighties, the Third. The Nineties, the Fourth. It will be of persons deceased, of times important, memory and inspiration the motive. Not all will be set forth herein that can or ought to be said of these men and their years. Fifty years! Never before such years; never to be such years. Never before such men; we trust always to honor these men in our memory. 1850-60 The first record movement toward municipal organization of Guthrie Center, Iowa, began the first day of May A. D. 1854, the date William Tracy entered the Southwest Quarter of Section Six, in Township Seventy-nine, North, Range Thirty-one, West of the 5th P. M. The east half of this quarter and the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of said section was all the land involved in the original plat of Guthrie Center. The southwest quarter of the southwest quarter above was entered by Lambert Sternberg, and by him deeded to E. B. Newton. Tracy deeded one-half of his eighty to Newton, and these two were the record owners of the land when it was platted for town purposes, April 28, 1856. The deed whereby the land in said plat to be used for public purposes was dedicated, is dated the same date, and was executed by E. B. Newton and wife. Eveline, and W. M. Tracy and wife; and Thomas Seely took the acknowledgement as a notary public. The land included in this plat was well located and adapted for town site purposes. It was in the center of the county, in the midst of prairie and timber lands without limits. South Coon river furnished drainage, power and pure artesian water in great abundance. A county seat was just hanging ripe on a slender branch at Panora, eight miles east of the center of the county,—"a great injustice to be sure." Place, time, conditions, were propitious. Man, help yourself! The following quintet of gentlemen were responsible and most active in developing this project in the sixth and seventh decades of the nineteenth century (1850-1860)—William M. Tracy, Eder B. Newton, Thomas Seely, Charles Huxley and William Warrington. Additional Comments: Extracted from: A RECORD History Biography Memory Pioneer Times and Peoples GUTHRIE CENTER I0WA By ELBERT WRIGHT WEEKS 1932 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ia/guthrie/history/1932/arecord/1850186034gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/iafiles/ File size: 3.1 Kb