History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/3/Counties/Scott
SCOTT COUNTY was created in 1837 from territory belonging to the original counties of Dubuque, Cook and Muscatine. It lies on the Mississippi River in the fifth tier north of Missouri and contains four hundred fifty-five square miles. The county was named for General Winfield Scott who was in command of the department of which this county was a part in 1832. An account of the earliest settlements and the contests for the county-seat have been given elsewhere.
The survey of the public lands of Iowa began in the fall of 1836 and was completed in Scott County, by A. Bent, in March, 1837. The first county officials were appointed by Governor Lucas in 1838 and consisted of Ebenezer Cook, probate judge; A. H. Davenport, sheriff; and Isaac A. Hedges and John Porter, justices of the peace. D. C. Eldridge was the first postmaster of Davenport. In October, 1838, Judge Thomas S. Wilson held the first term of court in the county. Alexander McGregor opened the first law office in 1836. The first steam mill was built by A. C. Fulton in 1844. The first church was organized in the spring of 1838 by Father Samuel Muzzuchelli, an Italian Catholic priest. A Presbyterian church was organized the same year with ten members. The first sermon was preached by the noted pioneer Congregational minister, Rev. Asa Turner, in Pleasant Valley in the summer of 1836.
The Wapsipinicon River forms a large part of the northern boundary of the county, while the Mississippi flows along the eastern and southern limits. These rivers are bordered with fine bodies of native timber while several groves are found in the interior of the county.