History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/3/Counties/Louisa
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 settled in Wapello were John Drake, Jacob Minton, John Gilliland, C. McDaniels and William Thomas. Francis Springer was one of the first attorneys. In 1841 Clark and Noffinger established the first newspaper, the Wapello Intelligencer. The first school in the county was taught by John Ferguson.
The county-seat was located on the banks of the Iowa River about eighteen miles from its mouth on the site of an Indian village where the chief Wapello lived many years and is named in his memory. Columbus is a thriving town in the northern part of the county at the junction of Burlington and Cedar Rapids, and the Chicago and Southwestern Railroads.