Community Contributions

Photographs and documents related to the history of Poweshiek County contributed by individuals. Contributions from throughout the county are welcome and include the communities of Barnes City, Brooklyn, Deep River, Ewart, Grinnell, Guernsey, Hartwick, Malcom, Montezuma, Searsboro and Victor.

grinnell:11911
Studio portrait of Reverend Homer Hamlin, one of the men who founded the city of Grinnell, Iowa, in 1854.

grinnell:5852
Abstract of title to the West 1/4 of the NE 1/4 and East 1/2 of the NW 1/4, Section 8, Township 80, Range 16. This abstract is for the James Fordyce Bailey farm northeast of Grinnell, Iowa, and includes the names: Josiah B. Grinnell, John Bailey, Lorenzo Bailey, Charles Bailey, George and Susan Tallmon, Andrew Foster, H.W., F.E. & E.H. Spaulding, A.B. Gage and Joanna Baggs, among others. Abstract covers 1854-1930.

grinnell:5853
Abstract of title to the East 1/2 of the West 1/2 of the Northeast 1/4 of Section 8, Township 80, Range 16, and all of Block 2 in Bailey's Addition to Grinnell, Iowa. Part of the James Fordyce Bailey homestead which became Bailey's Addition to the Town of Grinnell. Includes the names of Josiah B. Grinnell, Hugh Downey, John Bailey, James F. Bailey, Lorenzo Bailey (and many other Baileys), Mary Stickle, and William Dunn among others. Abstract covers 1854-1906.

grinnell:12144
Berry Craig, brother of George Craig. Berry Craig served in the 12th Colored Heavy Artillery during the Civil War. Portrait by Stonecypher's Portraits, Omaha, Nebraska.

grinnell:27206
Portrait of Eveline Graffort Raffety, the wife of Elon Raffety and the great grandmother of Howard Raffety of Grinnell.

grinnell:27205
Portrait of Elon (Elonzo) Raffety, great grandfather of Howard Raffety of Grinnell.

grinnell:27204
Elon Raffety's discharge papers from the 21st Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Captain Davis Greaves Company, dated July 15, 1865, at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Elon Raffety moved to Poweshiek County in 1881, settling at Westfield, where he lived until 1893, when he moved to Grinnell.

grinnell:11899
Studio portrait of Anor Scott, Grinnell's first store-keeper and merchant.

grinnell:6199
Receipt from Amos Krise to M.F. Gray for cemetery plot in Poweshiek cemetery in the amount of $4.00 dated July 7, 1871. M.F. Gray is probably Mahon Force Gray (1842-1895) who is buried in Kent Cemetery, Madison Township, Poweshiek County, Iowa.

grinnell:20618
Two images of Betsie Azuba Taylor Sanders (Mrs. Joseph Howard Sanders) of Grinnell, Iowa.

grinnell:20613
William Steele Sanders as an infant in 1873. Photo by Child Studios, Grinnell.

grinnell:20614
Willie Steele Sanders at two years of age, January 30th, 1875. Photo by Chas. L. Walker, photographer, Grinnell, Iowa.

grinnell:20615
William Steele Sanders at approximately age 4. Photo by Chas. L. Walker, Grinnell, Iowa.

grinnell:27181
Ewart (Iowa) Presbyterian Church in 1880. This building was destroyed by fire in 1901.

grinnell:20617
Tentatively identified as either George Lucius Sanders, father of William Steele Sanders, or Joseph Howard Sanders, brother of George Lucius Sanders, of Grinnell, Iowa. The Sanders were one of the early pioneer families of Grinnell. Photo by Chas. L. Walker, Grinnell.

grinnell:12010
View of Nelson Lafayette Brown in the pulpit at Hickory Grove United Brethren Church in Hickory Grove Township, Jasper County, Iowa.

grinnell:12503
Photograph of Little Mount Baptist Church which was located in Section 8 of Union Township, Poweshiek County, Iowa.

grinnell:11913
Photograph of a horse-drawn hearse in front of Matt Merritt Livery in Grinnell, Iowa.

grinnell:13250
Stereo card view of the north side of 4th Avenue between Main and Broad Streets in Grinnell, Iowa taken between 1879 and 1885.The first building on the left is the Eagle Block built in 1879. The Eagle Block and the building with the sign "Boots & Shoes" at the top are still standing (2017). The wooden buildings are no longer standing with the exception of the hardware store building which was moved, had its roofline changed and is now a home at 1316 4th Avenue. Visible business signs include ? & Norris, Attorney at Law; Dr. Kittoe, Dentist; H.C. Hyatt; Meat Market; and Hardware.

grinnell:12910
The Ross Avenue House was a wine and beer saloon owned by Fred Ahrens in Cincinnati, Ohio. Fred's wife, Henrietta Hücke Ahrens is seated with their seven children in front of the saloon. Fred is standing at the right side of the family group sporting a goatee. Customers and bystanders surround them. In 1893 Fred Ahrens bought a farm in Chester Township, Poweshiek County, Iowa, and moved to Iowa with his family. In 1895, Fred Ahrens died in a farm accident.