Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 3.djvu/479

 County from east to west and was the first built to Cedar Rapids which has become one of the important railroad centers of the State. LOUISA COUNTY was created in 1836 from territory originally included in Demoine. When first established it included parts of Washington, Henry and Des Moines. On the 12th of January, 1839, the boundaries of Louisa were fixed as they are now embracing an area of four hundred seven square miles. The county lies in the third tier north of Missouri and its eastern boundary is the Mississippi River. It was named for Louisa Massey, a young woman in Dubuque, who had recently shot a ruffian who had helped to murder one of her brothers and was attempting to kill another when she put an end to his career.

The Iowa River flows through the county in a southeasterly direction emptying into the Mississippi within its limits. This county was at one time the home of the famous Indian chiefs Black Hawk, Wapello, Keokuk and Poweshiek.

The first white settler in the county was Christopher Shuck who made a claim near Toolsboro previous to 1834. In 1835 William L. Toole, P. Harrison, W. Crayton, S. Smith and L. Thornton settled near the mouth of the Iowa River. Francis Springer, Colonel Garner, N. W. Letts, David Hurley and Rev. Josiah Vetrees were among the early settlers who came before 1840.

The county was organized in 1837 and the following officers chosen: William L. Toole, Levi Thornton and Robert Williams, county commissioners; John Gilliland, recorder and treasurer; Z. C. Ingham, clerk and C. M. McDaniel, sheriff. The county-seat was located at Wapello where a town was platted by order of the commissioners in 1838. The first court was held by Judge David Irwin who presided over a number of the earliest courts held within the limits of Iowa. The first citizens who