I looked @ Lucas Co. IA and wonder about the heading that says "date of origin 1894". Mr reference guides say Lucas Co. was created 1846. juanita > Hi All: If you haven't seen this website -- it's worth looking at. > > http://www.iowacounties.org/About%20Us/AboutCoGov/County%20Pages/Lucas > .htm > > > Interesting info. on ALL Iowa counties.. Nancee > > > ==== IALUCAS Mailing List ==== > David, railrider503@aol.com: Lucas County List Administrator, > Website Coordinator, Lucas County IA Genweb - > http://www.rootsweb.com/~ialucas/Main.htm

The present Lucas County courthouse dates from 1894, so that probably is the source of that date. Lucas County does date from 1846 although, of course, there were no non-native residents at that time. Much Lucas County history is based on an 1881 history book that is not necessarily accurate, but tends to get endlessly repeated. William McDermott, for example, probably wasn't the first permanent settler, although he was the only one of the first who stuck around long enough to die in Lucas County (and lay claim to the title). Mormons were, indeed, the first non-native residents, but actually were around for more than a year. The northern branch of the Mormon Trail (known as the Trace) carried a majority of the Saints west from the summer of 1846 into 1849 (when a Chariton River crossing was engineered in extreme northwest Appanoose County). So thousands of Mormons passed through and Chariton Point (just south of where the city of Chariton is located now) seems to have been a fairly major way station (a lesser version of Garden Grove and Mount Pisgah) during that period --- not just a collection of six shanties occupied for a year. And so it goes ... Frank