Building a New Community: lessons from family

My great-great-grandmother Nancy Henderson was the eldest of several motherless children raised by the dashing, soldier-turned-frontiersman, Hezekiah Henderson. Tragically, Nancy’s mother died giving birth to her on the shores of the Wabash River in 1861, the same year the Civil War began. Hezekiah, a decorated Black Hawk War veteran, likely left baby Nancy with relatives to serve in the war. When the war ended, he retrieved his young daughter and journeyed westward in search of new opportunities. By the time they reached Algona, Iowa, Nancy had traveled for weeks—either jostled on a wagon or walking alongside it.

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