History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/3/Counties/Jones
JONES COUNTY was established in December, 1837, from territory belonging to the original county of Dubuque. It lies in the second tier west of the Mississippi River and the fourth south of the Minnesota line. It is twenty-four miles square and contains an area of five hundred seventy-six square miles. The county was named for General George W. Jones who, as delegate in congress, secured the creation of the Territory of Iowa, and who was one of the first United States Senator when it became a State. The Wapsipinicon and Maquoketa rivers
IOWA RIVER, NEAR IOWA CITY,
Old Capitol Quarry
flow through the county in a southeasterly direction and their stores are lined with woodland.
In 1836 Hugh Brown, Moses Collins, John Flynn and Alfred Weatherford made a settlement at Bowen’s Prairie in the northeast part of the county. During the same year Daniel Varvel and William Clark made claims and built cabins near Montecello. In 1837 a colony from the Red River of the north emigrated southward and made a settlement at Scotch Grove. Among them were Alexander Sutherland, James Brimner, David McCoy and their families numbering in all about thirty persons. In 1839 thirty-three of their neighbors joined the settlement. In 1837-8 a settlement consisting of about thirty persons was made along Farm Creek. Among them were Abraham Hostetter, John Rafferty, Charles P. and James Middleton. The first settlers at Buffalo Forks of the Wapsipinicon River were George Russ and Sherebrick Dakin who came from Maine in 1838. Gideon H. Ford came in the fall and bought their claims which included the site of Anamosa. He sold a portion of the tract to Timothy Davis and George H. Walworth which who laid out a town which was named Walworth. Three years later a town was laid out west of Walworth which was named Lexington. In 1842 David Wood and Edmund Booth built a frame house where Anamosa stands.
The county was organized in August, 1838. In 1840 a commission was chosen by the Legislature located the county-seat near the geographical center of the county and laid out a town which was named Edenburgh. The first term of court was held there the following year by Judge Thomas S. Wilson. In 1845, by a vote of the people, the county-seat was removed from Edenburgh to Newport where the only house was a small log cabin. In 1847 the people voted to move the county-seat and it was located at Lexington. The name of this town was soon after changed to Anamosa in honor of a beautiful Indian girl who once lived there and whose father was a chief named Nas-i-nus. The name of the daughter signifies “White Fawn.” The first newspaper in the county was the Anamosa News, published by William Haddock and first issued in February, 1852.
Montecello was laid out in September, 1853, by G. H. Walworth and D. Varvel. Branches of the Milwaukee Railroad run through the county. One of the large penitentiaries of the State is located at Anamosa where there are extensive stone quarries.