Emilia, pioneer girl, was Born the Day before Iowa became a State

joynealkidney

1 year ago

Emilia Moore was born in Indiana December 27, 1846. The next day, Iowa became the 29th State in the Union.

And when Emilia was eight years old, her family loaded two immigrant wagons in Indiana and headed for the state of Iowa, which was as old as Emilia. The Moore family arrived in Guthrie County June 2, 1855.

Emilia grew to womanhood and married David Jordan, who built a log cabin for them, just west of Monteith just a couple of years after President Lincoln had been assassinated.

Monteith became an official town in 1880, when the branch train, affectionately known as the Liza Jane, was completed from the main line of the Rock Island Railroad north to the county seat of Guthrie Center.

Emilia and Davy Jordan were the first of three generations to live in and around Monteith, which never had a population of more than 78 people. The nearby pioneer cemetery is filled with those folks, their kith and kin, and memories of the old days.

This is the house, built in 1882, west of Monteith. David and Emilia Jordan are the first adults on the left. The photo was taken about 1896. The house was still standing in 1967, but is no longer.

Just west of the Monteith elevator. We’ve driven through when it looked like this. Photo by Joe Kenney! (It’s also the photo that heads the Historic Guthrie County Facebook page, since I’m the founding admin.)

You might also enjoy Leora’s Early Years: Guthrie County Roots