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Friday, June 11, 2004

 

Set....

My departure date may slip a little, but I can't let it slip too much. If possible, it would be nice to reach Glenwood, Iowa by July 4. I have personal reasons for wanting to visit.

For a bit of historical background, in early 1846 the Mormons left Nauvoo, Illinois, intending to settle somewhere in the Rocky Mountain basin. It was an exceptionally wet and muddy spring, and it took them several months to cross Iowa, and Brigham Young ordered several "instant towns" set up along the way to raise grain to feed those who would be coming later. They got as far as the Missouri River, and camped at a place they called Winter Quarters (later called Florence; now part of Omaha), and in Council Bluffs, back on the east side. The next year, 1847, only a few companies of pioneers went on to found Salt Lake City. Most of the Mormons scattered in settlements across eastern Iowa, and stayed there for up to 3 years.
My 3rd great-grandfather was a founder of one of these settlements; then called Coonville, and my 2nd great-grandfather was born there. Family records called the place Keg Creek, and in fact Keg creek runs through the town. In 1850, Brigham Young sent a letter calling on those who had not yet made the trip to come out West, and in response, most of the Mormons did. There was at the time an increasing number of non-Mormons moving into the area. My ancestor sold out his holdings there and moved his family out. The town was resurveyed, renamed Glenwood, and became the county seat of a new county. So..I don't have a close connection to the town, but there is a connection. I visited there a couple of years ago, and I don't mind visiting the place again.

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