London Township

London Township

This is the southeastern subdivision of Freeborn county, with Mower county bounding it on the east, the state of Iowa on the south, the township of Oakland on the north, and Shell Rock on the west. It is a complete congressional township of thirty-six sections or square miles, and comprising the territory, technically speaking, of township 101, range 19. The greater part of the township is prairie land and is well adapted to tillage and profit¬ able agriculture. The general inclination of the surface is rolling, although it may be said to be more level than any township in Freeborn county. In and about sections 15 and 16 is the most broken, although not enough so to be impractical for cultivation. The soil is a dark loam, rich and productive, and is underlaid with a subsoil of clay. The best farming land in the town is the eastern part. There are few streams and only one lake to water the surface of London. This body of water lies near the center of the town, and is known as Elk lake, covering the greater part of 160 acres in section 21. Two streams flow across the north¬ eastern part of the town, and one traverses the southwest corner.

Early Settlers. About the first settlement made in the town¬ ship was by a party of various nationalities from Wisconsin, who in 185o settled in sections 8, 9 and 10, in what was termed the burr oak opening land. This party was made up of the Budlongs, who later moved to Shell Rock; John T. Asher from Wisconsin, who is now dead; and some of the Bullocks and Carpenters who later removed to Oakland township, where friends and relatives had preceded them.

During the following year, however, many eastern people came in and located. Among those who arrived in 1856 were: Will¬ iam N. Goslee, a native of Connecticut, who had stopped for a time in Iowa, came from the latter place with an ox team, and in May, 1856, secured a place in section 13. Timothy F. Goslee came about the same time, but located just over the line in Mower county. Thomas Bonnalllie and Roger Gibson also came this same year. Benjamin Stanton joined this party by locating in section 12. In October, 1857, wdiile engaged in building a log house, he was killed by a stroke of lightning. Just north of Stanton, in section 1, D. R. P. Gibson, a native of Connecticut, located. H. B. Riggs, late of Michigan, joined this party and made himself a home in section 11, where he remained for a number of years, and then removed to Shell Rock, where he later died.

D. B. Germain next came and located in section 12, where he remained until 1880, when he removed to Mower county. Avery Strong, a native of New York state, was another of the arrivals in 1856, who settled in section 13. Silon Williams came from Vermont at about the same time and planted his stakes in section 11. Edward Thomas also came about the same time. William Davis and a Mr. Lunt also arrived in 1856. Section 21 received a settler this year in the person of Ole Lewis, who remained a year or two and then left the country.

In the spring of 1857 James H. Goslee left his home in Connec¬ ticut and came as far as Dubuque by rail, from there taking the stage route to St. Paul, where he was engaged for a couple of weeks, after which he came on as far as West Union with a man who had horses for sale. The snow was very deep and he was delayed for several days, but finally found a man who was on a milling trip from Chickasaw county, Iowa, and with him rode to the latter place. Here he was detained for three days by a severe blizzard, and was finally carried on to Otranto, Iowa, from whence he walked to his brother's place in Lyle, Mower county. Being favorably impressed by the country he bought a place in sections 12 and 13 in this township.

In 1858 James H. Stewart, a native of the Empire state, made his appearance in London and located in section 24. The same year Joseph Chmelik and A. Raymond, Bohemians, arrived and took claims in section 5. Among others of the early settlers in the township were: James Van Winkle, who came in 1861; Henry Lang came in 1862; John Robertson, in 1866; Persons Bump, in 1868; Arthur E. Johnston, and John Manning came in 1879.

the fall of 1856 and brought into existence George Adkins. The second birth Occurred in February, 1857, being that of a child to Horace Lamb. The first death was that of Benjamin F. Stanton, who died by a stroke of lightning on October 6, 1857.

The Name. London received her name from New London, from which countv in Connecticut came James H. and William N. Goslee. It was originally named Asher and then Lyndon, the name appearing on the county records spelled Lindon. The "New" was dropped from New London, thus giving the town its present designation.

London has a German Lutheran church in section 18, a LYdted Brethren church in section 7 and a Norwegian Lutheran church in section 33, on the state line. There are cemeteries in sections 7 and 17.