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A chart is worth a thousand words: Data about Confederates from Iowa

I’ve documented 74 males who left Iowa and served the C.S.A.  Research is ongoing.  I’ve received interesting questions about their pre-war Iowa residences, their  birthplaces, and their parents’ birthplaces.

The following charts summarize my data.

IA 22 counties PRE WAR RESIDENCES.jpg

 

Top five prewar Iowa counties of residence

 

Birthplaces of Confederates from Iowa literal title

 

Birthplaces of parents of Confederates from Iowa 2

Family members in uniform

To my surprise, about one-third of Confederates from Iowa had at least one family member in the Confederate or Union forces.  Only rarely did family members enlist in the same unit.

Sets of family members serving CSA and or USA 7

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.  Happy New Year!

 

 

 

David Connon

David Connon has spent nearly two decades researching dissenters in Iowa: Grinnell residents who helped on the Underground Railroad, and their polar opposites, Iowa Confederates. He shares some of these stories with audiences across the state through the Humanities Iowa Speakers Bureau. He worked as an interpreter at Living History Farms for eleven seasons. Connon is a member of Sons of Union Veterans, an associate member of Sons of Confederate Veterans, and a member of the Des Moines Civil War Round Table. His articles have appeared in Iowa Heritage Illustrated, Iowa History Journal, Illinois Magazine, and local newspapers in both states.

This Post Has 5 Comments

  2. Ken

    26 Jan 2016

    Interesting charts! I find it really interesting that almost half of the population was from the South! Good new farmland and a chance to start over? Did the State of Iowa offer incentives for settlers in the late 1860s?

    1. David Connon

      30 Jan 2016

      Hi, Ken. Thanks! As far as I know, the State (and earlier, the Territory) of Iowa never offered financial incentives for settlers. But the early arrivals found cheap land — and lots of it.

  3. Kent Wright

    4 Feb 2016

    This hits pretty close to home. Did your research turn up any names?

    1. David Connon

      4 Feb 2016

      Hi, Kent.

      Thanks for reading my blog! Yes, I have documented 74 males who left Iowa and served the Confederacy.

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