Thanks, Frank, for the info. That is probably what the date 1894 refers to. I was just curious since I knew my great grandfather was there by 1850. He was 21 yrs. old then, born in Indiana and went to Lucas Co. from Putnam Co. IN. Within a few months others in the family moved to Lucas Co. also. My mom was born on a farm in Lucas Co., near Chariton. Closest town was Derby IA. She talked about Derby and Chariton so much but I never got to visit there until long after she died - to my chagrin. Appreciate your writing. juanita > 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

Hello Juanita: I saw your exchange with the IALUCAS group that we both subscribe to. Just wanted to let you know MY great great grandfather and family also moved from Indiana to Chariton, Lucas County and some of the family lived in and around Derby in Wayne Co. too - which is a few miles away. Matter of fact, the book "History of Lucas County 2000" which you can get from the Lucas Co. Genealogical Society if you wish, lists quite a few historys of various pioneer families and for the most part, they were from Indiana. Made me wonder what the heck was going on that so many of them headed to Lucas Co. Iowa about the same time. Quite a mystery to me. No doubt it had to do with land opening up or maybe they were all from a certain religion and moved together. Think mine were Protestant, but need to confirm it. Anyway, I thought it very interesting that a good many Indianians moved to Iowa during the 1855-65 time period. If anyone knows why, I'd love to hear about it. Sandy Childs (a transplanted Iowan) ----- Original Message ----- From: "juanita" <juanita2@cox.net> To: <IALUCAS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, September 16, 2005 8:10 AM Subject: Re: [IALUCAS] ISAC WEBSITE > Thanks, Frank, for the info. That is probably what the date 1894 > refers to. I was just curious since I knew my great grandfather was > there by 1850. He was 21 yrs. old then, born in Indiana and went to > Lucas Co. from Putnam Co. IN. Within a few months others in the > family moved to Lucas Co. also. My mom was born on a farm in Lucas > Co., near Chariton. Closest town was Derby IA. She talked about > Derby and Chariton so much but I never got to visit there until long > after she died - to my chagrin. > > Appreciate your writing. > > juanita > >> 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 > > > > ==== IALUCAS Mailing List ==== > David, railrider503@aol.com: Lucas County List Administrator, > Website Coordinator, Lucas County IA Genweb - > http://www.rootsweb.com/~ialucas/Main.htm > > ============================== > Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the > areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. > Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx >