Aaron Ball

GEDCOM Note

blk. 16, lot 41, Iowa Cemetery Records, Black Hawk- Brief History of Black Hawk County

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Before the Europeans came, the valley of the Cedar River was almost completely covered in dense timber. Yet at a point about seven miles below the falls of the Cedar, unwooded prairie grasses covered both banks of the river for a stretch of about a mile. The river itself at that point fell in a swift rapids. Underneath the rapids, the riverbed was solid rock.

When the region was opened to white inhabitants, after the Sac and Fox Indians lost their hold on it following the Black Hawk War of 1832, the falls were an attraction to entrepreneurs who saw their potential for water power. One such, William Sturgis, made plans for a dam and lent his name to the early gathering of cabins.

The combination of open space and a solid river bottom at the rapids made a safe and, hence, a popular crossing for the Indians and for the early white visitors. The site inevitably became a settlement, initially named Prairie Rapids by first settlers George and Mary Hanna. Thus Sturgis Falls and Prairie Rapids, later to be renamed Cedar Falls and Waterloo, became in 1845 the first settlements in Black Hawk County, and between them at the end of the year they boasted the county’s entire white population of thirteen pioneers.

Prior to the establishment of permanent homes, Black Hawk County, first created in 1843 and named for the Sac war leader who lost the war that bears his name (and who never set foot in the area named for him), had been under the administration of Delaware County. Responding to the gradual western trend of white expansion, Benton County officials took over in 1845, the year before Iowa statehood, followed by Buchanan County in 1851. By act of the Iowa legislature, Black Hawk County was allowed to organize its own government and elect officers in 1853. At the same time, the counties of Bremer, Grundy, and Butler were administratively attached to Black Hawk County. The first election of county officials was held on August 17.

The legislature also called for a commission to locate the county seat in the same year. Sturgis Falls, with its thriving mills, was the leader in commerce at the time and got the nod. Waterloo boosters, unwilling to acquiesce, convinced the legislature to call for an election and by a vote of 388 to 260, the more centrally-located Waterloo became the county seat in 1855. It was already vying with Cedar Falls in the milling industry, a dam having been constructed in 1854, the year the city was platted.

Many eastern Iowa settlements moved swiftly from frontier outposts to civilized cities in the beginning of the last half of the nineteenth century. Surrounded by some of the richest farmland to be found anywhere on the globe, the cities of Black Hawk County became important centers for the agricultural community. Despite a brief period of high water, which allowed the steamboat Black Hawk to make twenty-four round trips between Cedar Rapids and Waterloo in 1859, the Cedar River was not destined to provide a transportation advantage. However, the railroads arrived in 1861, precipitating another rivalry between the neighbors on the Cedar. When, in 1870, the Illinois Central Railroad chose Waterloo over Cedar Falls as the site of its repair shop, Waterloo was set in its path to become a major industrial center by the turn of the century.
Black Hawk County was created in 1843 by the Territorial Legislature of Iowa and attached to Delaware County for judicial, election, and revenue purposes, because there were few, if any, white settlers at that time. The Sauk and Fox (Meskwaki) Indians had lived here for many years, owning the area until 1837. The County was named after the renowned Sauk Chief Black Hawk, although he never lived here.

In 1845, Black Hawk County was attached to Benton County, and in 1851 to Buchanan County, again for judicial, election and revenue purposes. Not until August 17, 1853, did Black Hawk County have its own government.

It is believed the first white man to visit Black Hawk County was a Frenchman named Gervais Paul Somaneaux. He came during the spring of 1837, left during the winter, and returned about ten years later to settle in Cedar Falls, where he lived until his death in 1850.

1810 Census Aaron Ball
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=d8b02705-bb6a-4165-9b39-4...