Digging for Our Roots, Part 2: Lansing, Iowa

7 August 2013

On our way to Allamakee County which is in the northeast corner of Iowa, we stopped in Burr Oak to do a little “Laura Land.” I am a big Laura Ingalls Wilder fan and have visited three of her homes; Pepin (Wisconsin), De Smet (South Dakota) and Mansfield (Missouri.) So this was an opportunity to add in another one. Laura did not include Burr Oak in her Little House books, but there has been a lot of research done using her correspondence and remembrances of people who knew her family during the time that she lived there. We took a tour of the hotel which Pa Ingalls helped manage. It is always difficult for me to imagine that so many people would occupy such a small place. They would actually sleep 3 people to a bed (strangers at that!) And these beds didn’t look to be much larger than a twin or full bed would be today. The Ingalls were not happy in Burr Oak and, after only a year, left to return to Minnesota.

We stayed four days in Lansing. The northeast of Iowa is much closer to the geographic nature of Wisconsin than it is to the rest of Iowa. The area is very hilly and heavily wooded, not anything like the gentle rolling plains we have seen elsewhere. It reminded us of Ireland, which is interesting since this area was settled by Irish immigrants, including my great great grandfather from County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. I imagined that they felt right at home, except they actually owned the land here, the land was more productive and they were prosperous.

I spent two days at the county courthouse and the historical society, finding lots and lots of land records and probate records for my g-g-grandfather, his siblings and some of his children. I also found land records for my g-grandfather Purcell, firmly establishing that this was the area where my g-grandparents met. The people we have encountered have been so helpful, friendly and accommodating.

On the days when we weren’t doing family research, we explored the county. One day, we drove down along the Mississippi River to the Effigy Mounds National Monument, a collection of prehistoric burial mounds, many shaped like bears and eagles. Not much is known about the mounds, except that at one time there were about 10,000 mounds documented throughout the mid-west. Only about a quarter survive today.

We crossed the river over to Prairie Du Chien and walked along their riverfront. This area started out as a fur trader rendezvous in the 1700s and evolved into a town settled by the French. The weather was beautiful that day and we watched an eagle soaring over the river for several minutes.

Another day, we drove over to the township where my g-g-grandfather farmed and took an Iowa scenic byway through a river valley. The Fall time must be incredibly scenic with all the hardwood trees on the rocky bluffs. We were able to find the cemetery where my g-g-grandfather and his wife and a teenaged son are buried. And by comparing the 1860 platt map against a current platt map, we were able to navigate out to the land that he farmed. That was an adventure on gravel roads, through hill and dell!

Several evenings, we sat out by our campfire and enjoyed visiting with the other camp folks. It seems that most of the campers have been coming here for a long time and know each other pretty well. The town is getting ready for Fishing Days this weekend and lots of folks had their boats and fishing gear out.

The weather cooperated pretty well during this segment. It rained the two days we were doing research and were inside buildings. The other two days, it was beautiful skies and temperatures in the 70s. Good planning!

Tomorrow we leave for the Waterloo area (central part of Iowa) on our way back to Des Moines for the State Fair. Looking forward to having better connectivity - we have been without TV, phone and internet connectivity for four days. (Note: I somehow lost several pictures which I intended to include here. Once I recover them, I will be doing an update to this particular blog, so check back in a couple of days.)

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Burr Oak, Iowa.

The parlor. On the other side of the wall was the bar. Lots of carousing went on there which Pa Ingalls was not thrilled with!

Imagine 3 strangers sharing this bed!

The dining room was down in the basement. Caroline Ingalls did the cooking, the girls set the tables and cleaned up.

A view from the ridge that we traveled along on our way to our campground.

This is the iron bridge crossing from Lansing over into Wisconsin.

The mighty Mississippi.

We were surprised by a helicopter spraying crops as we headed out to my g-grandfather's land.

This is my g-grandfather's land. Wards farmed this land until the 1980s, over a hundred years.

This is the church that my g-grandfather John Ward worshipped at. Actually this particular building wasn't finished until a few years after he passed, but he was a member of the congregation for many years.