From the old county histories
Know where you came from. Meet the people who farmed, built, served and raised families across the Heartland, from the records they left behind.
Alexander Orr, born in Ayrshire, Scotland, started trapping in the mines in 1854, when he was ten. In 1887 he and his brother William came to Mystic, Iowa, opened the first mine there, and he made out the town's first poll books.
Read the history: Coal Mining in Appanoose County, Iowa →From the old county histories, in our words. Each page cites the book.
Photo: The upper works of Relay Mine No. 3 of the Centerville Block Coal Company at Centerville, Appanoose County, printed in 1908.
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Found your name? We trace your family back as far as the records go and write it up as a family history book, every source cited. No DNA test and no sales call: we take a free first look, then email you a plan and a flat price before you spend a dollar.
Midwestern families followed across the generations from the original county histories, regimental records and old newspapers, every fact cited.
Profiles of well-known Iowa and American families and the companies they built.
Profiles of the families, companies, and people behind Iowa, from Casey's, Albaugh, and Pioneer Hi-Bred to Herbert Hoover, John Wayne, and Norman Borlaug. Organized by region, profiled from public sources.
21 of the great American family dynasties (the Kennedys, Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Fords, Roosevelts and more) profiled from public sources.
🗺 Explore notable families by state → · See all American dynasties →
Iowa coal country
The Hocking Valley
Lead and zinc at Joplin