In 1846, the planet Neptune was discovered, September 23.
Iowa became a State, the 29th, on December 28, 1846.
As author Timothy Foote, an editor at Smithsonian, points out, beyond the Smithsonian Institution’s founding, 1846 was an astonishing and decisive year in American history. “It was the year the Mexican War began. The year when the country, taking a quantum leap forward, suddenly completed the westward course of empire that Jefferson had dreamed of when he sent Lewis and Clark out exploring 40 years before. As 1846 began, the Union occupied less than half of what is the continental United States today; when it was over we possessed, or were soon to possess, all of it.”
The man who set it all in motion was President James K. Polk when he acquired California, New Mexico, and most or all of what are now Arizona, Nevada and Utah.
Meanwhile, in Indiana, a baby girl was born that year to Ephraim and Lucy Jane Moore. They named their sixth child Emelia Ann. Emelia would eventually become Leora Goff’s beloved grandmother.
In Iowa.
And in Illinois, also in 1846, Sam Wilson (who grew up with Indians in Ohio) married Emily Huyck. They would eventually become grandparents of Clabe Wilson.
In Iowa.
Nearly seventy years after Iowa became a state, Leora and Clabe would be married.
In Iowa.
I’m thankful that my ancestors decided that this new state would be a good place to settle. Happy Birthday, Iowa!
