90:. Lester Platt and his wife Elvira were among the first settlers, arriving in 1847, and Lester began helping trafficked Black people escape their enslavers. Ira Blanchard and George Gaston also settled nearby and shared Platt's sentiment and commitments about freedom seekers. Formerly enslaved people, such as Henry and Maria Garner and their family also settled in Civil Bend. By 1850, the settlement had a Congregational Church when John Todd arrived to serve as minister. Sitting in the Missouri River bottoms, the village's proximity to the river became an issue because of repeated flooding.
938:
110:, as they moved from Civil Bend to Tabor. By January 1859 it was open knowledge that Civil Bend was part of the Underground Railroad. At the end of that year, Nuckolls sued residents of Civil Bend for stealing the two freedom seekers from him. The following year, one of the men whose home he illegally ransacked in a vain search for the seekers was awarded $ 8000 (the equivalent of nearly $ 300,000 in 2024) in
61:
The first settler in the area was a ferryman named John
Boulware. Another was a man surnamed Hickson. Hickson sold whiskey to the natives and settlers and the wild times that ensued were the origin of the place's name, Devil's Bend. The bend upriver from this was settled by
374:
124:
With the coming of the Civil War men from Civil Bend formed a company, first under
Colonel Craynor, then under Captain William H. Folmsbee. The community continued to grow after the war and collection was taken for a
105:
in 1865. By 1857, it was indirectly referred to as such in a
Michigan newspaper. Another account mentioned 75 slave-catchers hunting the 35 armed men protecting and escorting freedom seekers fleeing their enslaver,
491:
210:
366:
424:
114:
from
Nuckolls. A few months after this, in October, two free Black residents of Civil Bend and their free relative were kidnapped and carried off to the South. The relative, from
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and the contrast between their lifestyle and that of
Hickson's customers led to their settlement being called Civil Bend. They came, determined to establish a safe haven for
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State
Historical Society of Iowa; Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs; The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
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97:. A good number remained in Civil Bend and it became an Abolitionist haven and the western terminus of the
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In the mid-1850s white settlers established a new town on the tablelands to the east of Civil Bend called
20:
1182:
484:"The Underground Railroad in Iowa: Linn County's role in helping escaped slaves continues to evolve"
1027:
102:
121:
The
African Americans who lived in the town stayed there though, along with a few white people.
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402:. Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. Des Moines, The Historical department of Iowa.
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644:"Three Negroes Kidnapped Near Council Bluffs and Run into Missouri -- Great Excitement"
740:"1,000 Miles From Home on the Wild Prairie‟: Charles B Darwin‟s 1849 Nebraska Diary"
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265:"Elvira Gaston Platt papers," (Reference identifier: IWA0181) University of Iowa.
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Leopard, John C.; Hillman, Mary McCammon; McCammon, Robert McMillen (1922).
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49:. It was a noted station on the Underground Railroad, and a stop along the
367:"Civil Bend, Fremont County, Iowa: Spoiling slavery on the Missouri slope"
1086:‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
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859:
773:
by Diane Miller for the Oxford
Research Encyclopedia on 19 October 2022.
138:
94:
118:, escaped to tell the story, but he had no idea what happened to them.
792:
United States Army Corps of
Engineers, Missouri River Recovery Program
675:. The Internet Archive. Topeka : Historical Pub. Co. p. 103.
337:
The
Biographical Dictionary of Iowa, The University of Iowa Libraries
79:
75:
760:
on February 8, 2024 – via Nebraska State Historical Society.
451:"To Make Kansas Free: The Underground Railroad in Bleeding Kansas"
29:
was a village established in 1850 located in the western part of
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83:
399:
Early settlement and growth of western Iowa; or, Reminiscences
514:"Civil Bend called one of Lane's "horse and negro stations.""
877:
46:
687:"Captain Folmsbee in Command of the Civil Bend company"
775:
https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.974
668:
414:"Iowa Freedom Trail Project: Individuals by County"
160:and is open to the public for outdoor activities.
1149:
672:History of Daviess and Gentry counties, Missouri
141:(1861—1950), American football player and lawyer
101:that ran east across Iowa until the end of the
156:Today, the site of Civil Bend is owned by the
74:from the neighboring slave-friendly states of
828:
277:""Fremont County Iowa, Underground Railroad""
147:Ira Blanchard, Underground Railroad conductor
144:Elvira Gaston Platt, teacher and abolitionist
835:
821:
941:Map of Iowa highlighting Fremont County
233:"Fremont County Iowa, township history"
19:For other places named Civil Bend, see
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737:
448:
213:from the original on December 23, 2023
86:to the southwest, and the rest of the
816:
798:from the original on February 8, 2024
494:from the original on February 9, 2024
464:from the original on February 8, 2024
430:from the original on February 8, 2024
377:from the original on February 8, 2024
343:from the original on February 9, 2024
307:"Civil Bend, Iowa, described in 1850"
287:from the original on February 9, 2024
243:from the original on February 9, 2024
178:"Civil Bend : legend of reality"
175:
158:United States Army Corps of Engineers
1178:Populated places established in 1850
395:
360:
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13:
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843:Municipalities and communities of
14:
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566:"Nebraska Negro Catchers in Iowa"
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540:"Excitement on the Iowa Borders"
207:State Historical Society of Iowa
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313:. September 11, 1851. p. 2
37:, near the present-day town of
598:. December 16, 1859. p. 2
546:. December 28, 1858. p. 2
421:State Historic Society of Iowa
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16:Village in Iowa, United States
1:
777:. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
719:. February 6, 1868. p. 4
693:. October 27, 1864. p. 2
572:. January 25, 1859. p. 2
163:
1168:Underground Railroad in Iowa
650:. October 6, 1860. p. 1
520:. October 3, 1857. p. 2
7:
1173:1850 establishments in Iowa
738:Jensen, Richard E. (2004).
21:Civil Bend (disambiguation)
10:
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771:"The Underground Railroad"
648:Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye
449:Miller, Diane (May 2008).
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127:Methodist Episcopal church
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624:. June 9, 1860. p. 2
622:Muscatine Evening Journal
753:: 58–114. Archived from
596:Wisconsin State Journal
311:The Burlington Hawk-Eye
103:United States Civil War
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203:"Underground Railroad"
176:Handy, Robert (2000).
88:southern United States
940:
592:"Slavery in Nebraska"
458:National Park Service
139:Elmer Ellsworth Beach
1163:Fremont County, Iowa
1104:United States portal
846:Fremont County, Iowa
717:The North Missourian
691:The North Missourian
99:Underground Railroad
1158:Ghost towns in Iowa
1134:40.8032°N 95.8356°W
1130: /
570:The Weekly Hawk Eye
396:Todd, John (1906).
182:search.worldcat.org
108:Stephen F. Nuckolls
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518:The Niles Democrat
488:www.thegazette.com
47:U.S. State of Iowa
1139:40.8032; -95.8356
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788:"Civil Bend (IA)"
544:Wisconsin Tribune
133:Notable residents
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713:"New Church"
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371:Find A Grave
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345:. Retrieved
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333:"Todd, John"
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315:. Retrieved
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289:. Retrieved
281:iagenweb.org
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237:iagenweb.org
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64:abolitionist
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1137: /
1097:Iowa portal
861:County seat
802:February 8,
723:February 8,
697:February 8,
654:February 8,
628:February 8,
602:February 8,
576:February 8,
550:February 8,
524:February 8,
498:February 9,
468:February 8,
434:February 9,
381:February 8,
347:February 9,
317:February 8,
291:February 9,
247:February 9,
217:February 8,
187:February 8,
1152:Categories
1125:95°50′08″W
1122:40°48′12″N
1073:Civil Bend
1018:Washington
911:Shenandoah
164:References
51:Lane Trail
1082:Footnotes
1060:community
993:Riverside
950:Townships
129:in 1868.
1046:Percival
1041:Bartlett
1036:Anderson
998:Riverton
906:Riverton
901:Randolph
886:Farragut
796:Archived
492:Archived
462:Archived
425:Archived
375:Archived
341:Archived
285:Archived
241:Archived
211:Archived
80:Nebraska
76:Missouri
39:Percival
988:Prairie
978:Madison
928:Thurman
896:Imogene
891:Hamburg
152:Present
57:History
45:in the
41:on the
1068:McPaul
1013:Walnut
1008:Sidney
983:Monroe
963:Fisher
958:Benton
917:Sidney
878:Cities
868:Sidney
84:Kansas
1056:Other
1003:Scott
968:Green
922:Tabor
758:(PDF)
743:(PDF)
454:(PDF)
428:(PDF)
417:(PDF)
95:Tabor
1028:CDPs
804:2024
725:2024
699:2024
656:2024
630:2024
604:2024
578:2024
552:2024
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33:in
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924:‡
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