Judges? journal provides clues to county?s past

The 149-year-old journal arrived at the Fairfield Public Library in an unassuming manila envelope addressed to the genealogy society.

It was a homecoming of sorts for the detailed book of records started by Jefferson County Judge William K. Alexander, whose entries begin in January 1861 with a list of marriages. Forty-seven pages into the log, Jefferson County Judge Thomas Morgan?s pristine handwriting picks up where Alexander?s left off.

For local historians and genealogists, the journal fills a gap. In the fall of 1861, Alexander recorded the governor?s original orders to form a county militia, as well as the names, unknown until now, of the men elected to officer ranks in each township.

?In April 1861, basically the Civil War started ? and Jefferson County people signed up to fight,? explained Richard Thompson, a member of the Jefferson County Genealogy Society. ?By the fall, Missouri was not real happy with Iowa getting involved, and there were threats of people from Missouri coming into southern Iowa.?

In October 1861, Gov. Samuel Kirkwood ordered Alexander to establish a militia. A second order provided for the election of officers. Until the arrival of the journal, Thompson said the names of those officers, except for those in Fairfield?s southern district, were lost.

For the complete article and photo, see the Monday, Nov. 8, 2010, printed edition of The Fairfield Ledger.