Most all of SE MO was poor by most standards of the time. People worked hard to eek out a living in this region. Below are some sights with a little information on the items you asked about: http://www.rosecity.net/civilwar/ic.html Iron county MO in the civil war http://www.rootsweb.com/~moicgs/countyhistory.html History of Iron county MO http://www.ironcounty.homestead.com/ Iron county information page I am in the midst of packing.. and don't have either copy of The History of SE Missouri in a place I can get to at the moment. The History of Missouri before it became a state does not, naturally, have anything on the area by name. Marge -----Original Message----- From: Ed & Gaycha Mayhew [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 2:17 PM To: Margie Campbell Subject: Iron Co. in 1860 Margie, Have you read anything about life in 1860 in Iron Co. Was it a poor area and which way did it go during the Civil War? I see Arcadia is a pretty small town now, was it always small? Gaycha